The Island of Tears
by ZephyrNights
Summary: A story taking place parallel to that of Breaking Dawn. You know about the vampires. You know about the werewolves. But what about the others? What about me? My name is Kai Summers, and before my tale is over, a lot of people will be dead. Canon story.
1. Wings

_Disclaimer- I do not own Twilight, the Volturi, or the works of Stephanie Meyer. Surprisingly enough, Stephanie Meyer owns the rights to the works of Stephanie Meyer. But Kai and Xanthir are mine, so hands off._

_The following piece of writing takes place in the world created by Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. However, the story will not be focused on Bella, Edward, or any of the other well-known, well-loved characters, but rather two of my own. Don't worry, the canon characters will be appearing. Please don't be put off if it isn't right away._

_The story runs parallel to the last book of the series, Breaking Dawn and continues on after the latter's conclusion. At least for the time being._

_The story will not revolve solely around the two species that Meyer introduced either. As it is implied that other 'supernatural' races exist alongside 'werewolves' and vampires, I'm taking the opportunity to add some of my own._

_Enjoy._

_(Oh and for those of you who don't have the patience to find out exactly what the main characters species is, a little hint- they're in the best selling book of all time.)_

_**Prologue.**_

I've never asked myself the question 'what went wrong?' Never. I know what went wrong, and I lie awake at night, thinking about it all. The memories of that time are so firmly burned into my mind, that to forget them would take a piece of me into the void with them. I know what went wrong. I even know, though a little more vaguely, how it went wrong. No, the question that I ask myself is this.

What could I have done differently?

I'm almost gone now. It's only a matter of time before it's all over entirely. Well, perhaps I should welcome that. But I'll always remember. How could I not?

There are things in this world beyond mans understanding. And its not because man is stupid, or ignorant, or not willing to accept the truth. Its just because its hidden. And its hidden for the best.

Vampires. Werewolves. Shape-shifters. All hidden in the shadows of mans understanding, rendered into folklore and myth by confusion and fear. And then there's me.

I'm a little different.

What could I have done differently?

**THE ISLAND OF TEARS**

**"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity; and it was not meant that we should voyage far." –**_H.p Lovecraft- The Call of Cthulu_

If anyone had chanced to look up that night, the scene would have almost certainly have been misinterpreted. Not that anyone could see so far above them in the darkness, as they hurried on past far below. But had it been daylight, then perhaps one would have seen a young man, in his teens, standing at the lip of the skyscraper, his toes jutting out into empty space, bomber jacket and hair blowing out in the breeze. Ready to fall to his death. Ready to throw his life away and jump.

And had the onlooker really squinted, and had the sun been out, they may have seen a shining figure, the vague shape of a man, standing behind him as if ready to pull him back. And had they been perhaps of the religious persuasion, they would have thought of guardian angels, of luminous messengers, and they would have smiled in relief as the shining, glittering figure touched the young mans arm, and he turned, and stepped away from the edge. But there was no onlooker, no light to see by. And certainly no guardian angel.

And I wasn't planning on falling. At least, not towards the pavement.

'Can you smell something ?' he asked. I looked at him.

'Name it.'

'Sewage.' He sniffed and wrinkled his nose. 'Unpleasant odours'

One of the disadvantages of heightened senses.

'On a roof ?' I shot him a glance. He smiled and shrugged.

'Amazing what can happen these days.'

'Meaning what?' I smirked. 'So, what, some poor confused bastard ends up taking a sh-'

'Kai. Enough.' He turned and regarded me with his scarlet eyes, studying my face. Something flickered across his lips- a look of amusement or exasperation, I couldn't tell which. 'You don't appear to be nervous.'

'Please, Xanth. What is there to be nervous about?' I stretched my arms, breathing in the night air. The sounds of traffic could be heard in the distance, the rushing of air, accompanied by the muted sound of a single horn from some unseen truck. I let out a sigh, dropping my arms to my sides. Stars winked in the corners of my vision-I ignored them, instead concentrating on the sleek, glassy tower, across the street. The lights were still on, and one could just see into the interior- a scarlet walled sanctuary within a transparent building.

'We could mess this up.'

'You mean I could mess this up.'

'Not at all.' He stopped, though for a moment. 'Actually yes. It'll be your fault.'

'Not taking any responsibility then, Xanth?' I asked with a smile. He gave a low chuckle, brushing his blonde hair from his eyes.

'None whatsoever.'

'Dick.'

He rolled his eyes, and then turned his attention back to the skyscraper. I started whistling irritatingly. He shot me a glance.

'Bored?'

'We've been waiting for half an hour, pretty boy. The tedium is drilling a hole in my forehead.' I took my glasses off, rubbing my eyes with my free hand. 'I think I'm going insane.'

He muttered something. It sounded a lot like 'too late.'

'Well, we'll be off this roof soon.' I pointed towards the opposite tower, across the street, a little smaller than the skyscraper we were on. 'Movement.' I pushed my glasses further up my nose.

He shoved past me. The movement would have overbalanced me and sent me hurtling off had I been…different. He peered across at the other building.

Different. That was not a thought I'd like to entertain. I was different before I was myself. Looking back on it, the tedium was crushing. Every day toned in shades of grey. Before I realised who I was.

When I was different, I was like everyone else. Right up until I was sixteen.

And then I recovered.

'What can you see?' I asked him.

'On the nicer floor of the building.' He wasn't even squinting. 'Not human. His movements are too fluid. Besides,' he grinned at me with the sculpted features of a face that had won the hearts of at least a hundred girls, 'No human looks that good'.

I say at least a hundred because I didn't know his age. It could have been a thousand. I'd like to think it was actually less than five, but I'd probably be wrong.

'Do all vampires have their own heads up their collective arse ?'

'No.'

'Just you then'

'I'm merely being truthful'

I shrugged. 'Perspective'

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

'No-one else sparkles like a Christmas fairy when they take a beach trip' I added.

'Touche.'

I could just make out the figure on the 'nicer' floor. My eyesight wasn't that of a vampire, but even I could see the wealth smeared like a veneer over the corridor. That carpet was very thick and very red, and it appeared that there were numerous rectangles lining the wall- I assumed that they were paintings of some kind.

'The Sponsor has a nice little lot, doesn't he?'

'Slight understatement, Kai. We are talking about one of the richest humans in the world here.' He folded his arms, still watching the building. 'He probably just reached into his trouser pocket to buy this place up.'

'And no-one knows his name.'

'We do.' A

'Who are we ?' I asked him. An attempt at being philosophical. He frowned.

'Observers' he answered

'Hunters'

'Soldiers'

'Samplers of fine Italian cuisine'

'Only you, only on Fridays'

'It is a Friday' My stomach rumbled audibly 'Are we grabbing a pizza after this?'

'You can. I'm getting a deer.'

I glanced at him, surprised.

'Since when were you a veggie?'

'Well, multiple murders look bad. Especially if both victims have been drained of blood.'

'Oh. Right.'

'We can grab an escaped convict or something tomorrow.'

'Sure'

'But right now…' He turned and smiled again. 'I think it's time we fulfilled our contract'

'Have you got a bag?' I asked suddenly.

'A what ?'

'A bag. For his head.'

'The volturi aren't that old fashioned.' He was laughing, his red eyes shining with mirth. I shrugged.

'I just thought that as it's our first assignment, we could certainly impress them.'

'Don't try. We 'impressed' them enough at the interview'.

'Fair enough. Well yes. We did break into their headquarters.' I stood to one side, extending my arm out to the building across the street. Far below, the figures people moved between patches of light, the sound of traffic faintly heard. The wind picked up, scattering a single feather across the rooftop out into space.

'Ok. Its time, Kai. Shall we?'

'Ladies first.'

He rolled his eyes and hurled himself into the air. I saw his cloaked body easily clear the distance between the buildings, descending rapidly, billowing, until he met the side of the other tower. A gap of around sixty feet.

I grinned, and followed.

If the omniscient spectator from below could see up into the dark, see every single little detail, then he would have seen my irises behind the glasses change from a dark green to a pure white. And he if he had known, if he had the faintest understanding of the events that were about to unfold, then he would have prayed to his god, and started running.

_So there we are, Part One. I started writing this after reading some great fanfiction on this very site. Feedback would be appreciated. And if you aren't a twilight fan, I hope this story can cater to your requests as well._

_Thanks._

ZN


	2. Devil Devil

Part 2. A bit more explaination for the confused among you. Enjoy.

_Stephanie Meyer still owns Twilight. Not me. I'd be richer if i did._

His name was Xanth. Mine was Kai. We killed vampires.

That was as far as the similarities went. Our condition, our motives, our ideals, all different. Our looks too. I say that beauty is a matter of perspective, but it seems to be a perspective shared by many. He was tall, with blond quills, and immaculate in every way. The golden ratio, as he put it. Smooth features, a little feminine, but with a kind of 'facial steel' which I had seen rarely among others. Completely unblemished. Beauty, it seems, likes a bloodsucker. And his muscles were actually visible, and solid. Traits which I knew I had not been gifted with.

The mirror provided me with the sight of a pale, white face- not pure like his, but the paleness of sickness, speckled with the tiny black marks of adolescence. Brown, tangled hair, jutting out in a tuft on oneside like a lopsided eagle owl. Glasses, thin and angular, behind which lay dark green eyes. Most of the time, at least. Anorexics would hate me. Not many people can eat as much as they want and still remain incredibly thin. Xanth told me that I was verging on skeletal, the veins on my arms standing out like rivulets. I agreed with him. I suppose I had some physical appeal behind the glasses, but next to Xanth, I tended to go unnoticed. I liked that. It meant that people passed me by. Xanth was more than a friend. He was a portable shadow for me to lurk in.

There was another difference between us too. Xanth was part of a species commonly recognised by most non-human groups. I wasn't.

Oh yes. Another thing. Xanth had worked it out over the two years we had been together, since I had agreed to help him with his self-given task.

Xanth was sane.

He was clutching the window ledge now, long fingers digging a groove in the metal. His face was illuminated by the split in lighting- the warm light filtering from the window above, and the whiter, clinical light from the corrider below. His feet were pressed against the glass of the lower window, in an effort to keep his large, cloaked figure slightly more compact. It didn't look very comfortable, hanging from a ledge high above the street, praying that no-one looked up.

My position was far more dignified. I was standing on the thin strip of building in between the windows. Horizontally.

Imagine myself standing on a flat surface. Now turn the image ninety degrees to one side.

That's what I was doing.

I've never had a strong regard for the laws of physics.

'You alright down there ?' I asked him. He nodded, completely composed.

'I almost missed this ledge. That would have been embarrasing.'

'Definitely.' I took a step onto the glass above him, and tapped on it with a foot. He pulled himself onto the narrow ledge, taking a look at the plush interior of the hallway.

'Nothing'

'This will be alarmed if we break it.' I pointed to the glass. He nodded.

'There are other ways.' He pressed a hand to the glass and closed his eyes. Wisps of steam slipped silently between his fingers. He furrowed his brow, and his hand slipped right though the glass as if it were liquid.

'Carefully does it' I grinned. He scowled, his eyes still closed.

'Not helping, Kai.' He did the same with his other hand, pushing it alongside the first. Then, with a grunt, he pulled apart. The glass around his hands melted with a hiss, creating a sizeable gash in the window. He pinched the edges and pulled again. The hole expanded, now big enough for a large man to fit through.

'Nice'

The large man in question climbed into the corridor, a dark shape flowing through with a surprising elegance for his size. I stepped over the hole, dropping sideways onto the interior wall. There was a crunch, and I saw Xanths' face crumple. I had landed on a painting.

'That was expensive'

I stepped from the wall to the floor. Physics applied again. So did warmth. It was good to get out of the cold, which even now was blowing a little through the new hole in the glass.

'It's not like he'll be needing it. Not where he's going'

Xanth sighed, and began on his way down the corridor, his loose coat drifting out behind him. I grinned and followed him. There was another barely audible crack as I trod broken glass further into the scarlet carpet.

The painting I had stepped on was one of many. The small corridor was lined with them, watercolours, of various scenes and landscapes. The wall to our right was glass, the dark night visible beyond. Pinpricks of light from the city. At the end, there was a right turn, leading further into the heart of the building.

I hugged the wall, pulling my 'Purgatory' from my jacket. Purgatory. I'd thought the name up all by myself. The small silver-black handgun was a constant companion in my various jobs. It had been used in all of them. I had counted.

Silver bullets. The legends were all lies. Silver does nothing agaisnt a vampire, no matter how fast it travels. But this…

This was different. It worked.

Xanth turned down the passageway and stopped. I moved past him. There were doors on all sides, some plain wood, some noticibly ornamented, as though framed with an art nouveau style. More gold. Like a small signature from the building's temporary owner. Japanese lanterns hanging bizarrely from the ceiling. A door opening at the end of the corridor. A vampire coming out, with a shaved head, tattood arms, a look of surprise on his face.

That took a moment to register. There was a pause as we stood there looking at each other. A moment of perfect stillness.

Then-

'Oh sh-'

Vampires move quickly. To the untrained human eye, they are barely visible when attacking. But I saw everything.

He charged, speeding down towards us like a blur, bringing his fist towards us with a force that could rip through stone. That was his first mistake. His other was going for Xanth, who hadn't moved. The easy target, but the obvious threat. And the one who, unknown to the inexperienced vampire, was about to cause a lot of damage.

I ducked as the vampire flew past me. He collided with Xanth, fist missing as the latter stepped smartley out of the way, bringing his hand up in a chop to the newcomer's shoulder. There was a screeching noise, and with a swift twist, the vampires tattood arm came off in his hand. Then, with a kick to his opponent's spine, Xanth sent him through the window in a hail of glass. The wild ringing as the alarm system was activated was all but drowned out by the roar of anger from the rapidly descending guard.

We exchanged a look. The dismembered arm was making a bid for freedom, hand grasping at the carpet, pulling it along at a snails pace, as though trying to remain inconspicuous. Pale white, distorted at the shoulder where it had detatched. I picked it up and threw it through the window after its owner, watching it sail out of sight. Someone was about to get a nasty shock.

'Well, that's about it for stealth'

Xanth jerked a thumb down the corrider, shouting above the alarm.

'There'll be more coming to this spot'. He reached inside his cloak, drawing out something long, silver and sharp. He gave it a flick, and flames blossomed along its edge with a crackle, burning an imprint into my retinas. I blinked.

'Thanks for the warning, Xanth.'

'Go. I'll deal with the others.'

'A whole council, all to myself ?' I grinned. 'You're too kind'

'Go on. They'll be here soon. I can hold them off for long enough.'

'You sure ?'

'Kai, there's a window here. Its amazing how much a drop of a hundred feet can stall a vampire'

'While on fire.'

'Yes.' The flames from his sword could be seen reflected in his eyes. 'Move. I'll handle them.'

I did as he said and moved, sprinting down the corridor. Doors and paintings flashed past at the sides of my vision. I took a turn, trying to conjure the image of the floor plans in my head. The carpet sailed beneath my feet.

_Keep going, turn right, up the little flight of stairs, turn left, second door on the right, dead ahead, another door, more ornate than the first…_

I burst though, to be welcomed by a large, spacious room, oak panelled, a long conference table, and twelve surprised pairs of crimson eyes. Amidst them was a pair of green ones, sharing the same wide, shocked expression.

There was no moment of stillness now. I raised the handgun, sighting down the barrel, and smiled.

'Evening, gentlemen.'

Purgatory roared. And all hell broke loose.


	3. Kill Everything

_Part 3. Hopefully after I've added a few more chapters, people will actually start reading. _

_Stephanie Meyer still owns Twilight._

It would have looked good if I had shot the human first. If one were to put the ensuing events into a feature film, then the human would be the first to go. He was at the other end of the table, dead ahead. The director would probably put the sequence into slow motion- the bullet whistling through the air towards the man's head, as twelve vampires simultaneously rose from the table, roaring. It would look aesthetic. It would certainly have looked 'bad-ass'. But in reality, I went for the first vampire I laid eyes on. Eliminate the biggest threats first. The green eyed human wasn't going anywhere fast. I'd deal with him later.

If it's any consolation, I did hold the gun on its side. Just because.

The bullet hit the nearest vampire in the face. His head exploded as he rose, his body falling backwards, knocking the high backed chair to the floor. The others were moving, at a speed far beyond the comprehension of the human eye, beyond human reflexes. Fortunately, I'd lost both years ago.

I gauged it. Two, no, three in the air, attacking from above- two, dark suited males, and a female, in a scarlet dress unsuited to this kind of jumping manoeuvre. Two on floor level, either side of the table, racing towards me. One on the wall, about to join his three airborne friends in an aerial assault. The others were still getting up, having reacted to the events far slower than their companions. The human hadn't had time to blink.

If one was to put the sequence into this 'film', I suppose the director would just plagiarise 'The Matrix', and include a slow motion shot, in 'bullet time'. And then added some Drowning Pool or something. That's not what this was like for me. Time didn't slow. I just sped up.

Purgatory roared twice. Two of the vampires in the air were sent suddenly flying backwards. The third was still moving. I ignored her, bringing the handgun up to face the two runners. Taking a single step to the side, I shot the one on the left- he spun as his head was snapped back, crashing into his chair, and sending splinters into the air with the force of his impact. The wall-crawler was now in the air. As he flew, his course took him behind the scarlet-clothed female, and out of my sightlines. The latter was but a few feet away now, about to land. Her teeth were bared, her fingers splayed into claws, a snarl rippling in her throat. Her blonde hair streaming out behind her.

She was very pretty, I thought. Shame.

I fired. The bullet burst into white flames, shrieking straight through her pale forehead and hitting the vampire behind. As she fell, I fired through her again, and behind her, the floor runner went down.

And then silence.

'Hi' I said.

The six remaining vampires were all standing now. None of them made any move to spring, but he tension in their bodies was evident. So too was it obvious in their crimson eyes. I took their appearances in. One appeared to be an elderly vampire, perhaps in his eighties when he was changed, dark suited like the rest of the males. A single gold medallion hung around his neck. Beside him stood a younger male, hair slicked back into a ponytail, with sharp, angular features. Another female, this one in a suit too, hair tied into a severe bun, but with a coldly beautiful face. Two of the others appeared to be twins, Eastern, of medium build. And the sixth…

The sixth wore not a suit, but a black, leather jacket, floor length. His hair was arranged in long dreadlocks, and he sported a beard, hanging beneath his scarred face. A tattoo covered his left eyebrow.

'Dreys!' I took a step towards him. The others moved backwards. He didn't. Maybe because he liked the idea of bravado. Probably because he was thick as two short planks. I'll never know.

'Didn't bother dressing for the occasion, I see.'

'You want to die quickly?' he snarled. He was always snarling. I was hoping this would be his last time. It was getting on my nerves.

'You said that last time.' I shrugged. 'Remember? From behind your thirty something buddies?'

'This time will be different'

'Yep. This time you're not going anywhere'

I raised the gun and fired once at the ceiling. One of the twins had jumped. I stepped back as his body crashed onto the floor in front of me. A light rain of plaster swept down onto his figure from above. His brother didn't react.

'Itchy fingers' I said, apologetically. The elderly vampire's lips parted slightly.

'What manner of creature are you?' His voice was surprisingly steady.

'I have no idea' I said.

'How can they be dead?' His hand swept out, indicating the fallen seven around me.

'I know. Bullets don't kill vampires, do they?' I raised the gun. He took a step backwards. 'But it was a little naïve to assume that fire was your one weakness, wasn't it?'

There was a cry from the end of the table. The human. Sinking into his seat in terror, horn-rimmed glasses askew. Quivering.

'Wha- What?' he shrieked. 'What is this?'

'We can find out.' The suited woman spoke up, her voice little more than a whisper. 'We can find out after you are dead. We'll see what you are.'

'No. Sorry. You won't.'

I pulled the trigger. And there was an empty click as the gun jammed. I looked up to see the remaining twin's eyes, locked onto the barrel. Focusing. The ghost of a smile upon his lips.

'Oh, this is just a bad cliché'

They moved, all five of them. And I had no choice.

I Shifted.

The woman was the first one to die. As she came within inches of striking, I lunged forward, striking with the palm of my hand into her chin. She fell backwards, and stopped moving, her entire body bursting into pitch black flames. I dropped my gun, and, before, it hit the floor, sent a blast of black force into the Eastern vampire's chest. As he soared backwards, I caught the gun, slid under the table, and shot the pony-tailed bloodsucker through the wood, as he was leaping. A fist slammed through the table, pulverising the wood. I rolled out to see Dreys, charging at me with a force almost beyond vampire standards.

There was a chair. That saved my life. I kicked it into him, and instinct caused him to lash out at it as he ran, disintegrating it. Leaving him open. I swept forward, sliding two fingers into his throat, and watching as his snarl was instantly consumed by shadows. He collapsed motionless.

The old man was the last one. He threw himself at me with all the force he could muster. I jumped backwards, fired, missed. Somewhere in my head, I could just about feel his ability, as he tried to establish a telepathic link. He wanted to see what I saw, to know my next move. An old trick. I'd seen it before.

The mind is a dangerous thing. And to win, he needed to see it.

I let him.

His eyes widened. He collapsed to his knees, holding his head, as he saw the contents of mine.

'What?' He screamed, his composure gone. 'What are you?'

I put him out of his misery with a final trigger pull.

I managed to hold it for a few more seconds. Then I lost it. My knees weakened as I struggled to stand. Fatigue blossomed into every joint, a burning ache behind my eyes. Vomit rose acidic in my throat. The gun fell to the floor as I lost my grip. Everything began to blur before my eyes.

I'd held it for too long.

'NO!'

A cry.

I managed to raise my head. The human was standing there, a gun in his quaking hands. A dribble of blood ran down from one nostril. I'd all but forgotten about him.

'They promised me! They said it'd be ok!' He sighted down the gun, aiming at my head.

'They say a lot of things.' I coughed. 'That's why I never make a promise.'

The man laughed. His eyes were wide. Mad. Desperate. I'd just shot his dreams into a thousand pieces. Whilst smiling.

'Then I'll take you to hell with me.' A tear slid from on eye, running in a rivulet down his cheek. 'If this is how it has to be.'

He fired. The bullet whistled through the air. Faster than a vampire. But still visible to my eyes.

Its progress was halted by another, fired from the opposite direction. There was a flash of sparks as the two met in mid air. They fell onto the table together.

Purgatory was back in my hand.

He fired again. He emptied an entire clip of ammunition, screaming. And I fired too. More sparks. I didn't see where the bullets went.

Then the sound of his gun clicking uselessly. I didn't fire mine again. I knew it was out.

He kept pulling the trigger, the clicking resounding through the now quiet room. He didn't make a sound. He just kept clicking, now as though silently possessed.

I reloaded, almost doubled over, sliding the clip in swiftly. My hands were shaking with tiredness.

I looked up at him. Green eyes, dark hair turning to grey. Signs of age around his eyes.

I fired. His body jerked backwards, the contents of his head suddenly upon the wall behind him. He fell behind the lip of the table's end.

It was done. I managed one last smile before I collapsed to my knees, coughing. I'd been in Shift for too long, and the side effects were showing. I felt as though I could fall asleep, kneeling there in the thick red carpet. Sleep would certainly have been welcome.

Two minutes later, Xanth entered the room silently. I could sense him standing there behind me. He made no move towards me.

'You're going to kill yourself one of these days.'

'Hello to you too.'

'Nice work though.' I could picture him surveying the room. 'Very quick.'

I could smell something. Gasoline. He must have been holding a container of the stuff- I could hear it sloshing around.

'You need a hand?'

'I'm fine.' I struggled to my feet, swaying, but maintaining my balance. The air felt a little lighter on my shoulders.

'Where's the Sponsor?' Xanth asked. I managed to point.

'Over there, behind the table.' I coughed again. 'Why, you hungry?'

'A bit.'

'Indulge yourself.' I staggered around him, out through the open doorway into the hall. 'And save a vial for me.'

'Sure thing' He looked worried. 'Seriously, take a breather. You look like a goddamn zombie.'

'I feel like a zombie.'

'Come on. Get some air or something.'

'How did you do?'

'Fine. No witnesses.'

'Right. Then let's get that pizza.' I could feel the strength returning, little by little. I pushed my glasses further up my nose.

'I'll finish up here. Wait outside.' He stepped forward, treading splinters of wood into the carpet. I nodded. He moved towards the other end of the table.

Five minutes later, we were walking away. Behind us, the floor of the building was in flames, roaring merrily far above. And in the distance, the sound of sirens could be heard, sending their wails into the night air.

_Yes I know it's over the top and ridiculous. Sue me. At least we actually get a fight instead of, well you know…__*****__cough__*** **__Breaking Dawn *cough*_

_More to come._


	4. Lilies

_Wow, ok, no-one is reading. Thats ok. I'm just going to sob my eyes out in this corner with a bottle of vodka. Don't mind me._

_Stephanie Meyer still owns Twilight and all that stuff. _

I found him the next day, standing alone on the island. The sky was a perfect blue, and a breeze was blowing the scent of salt in from the sea, one, lone cloud drifting lazily above. He had his back to me, facing the nearby treeline, his coat rippling slightly in the wind. He was utterly motionless.

Here, we were surrounded by flowers. Lilys, white and purple. The entire island was covered with them, swaying in the wood, stretching all the way down to the gentle sea. He was knee deep in them. The back of his neck glittering in the sun. I dont think he noticed me until I spoke.

Vampires don't cry. They can't. But this place…

It wasn't perfect. But it worked.

I waited a few, silent moments before speaking.

'Hey' It felt louder than I intended

He didn't turn. He didn't move. But I heard his voice all the same.

'Do you think she can see me ?'

I gazed up at that single cloud. It was moving towards the sun.

'Yeah.' I lied. ''Course she can.'

We stood there a little longer, the breeze on our faces. Then-

'Shall we go ?' I asked.

The lilys bent slightly.

'Yes. Let's go.'

Neither of us moved.

******

One week later

The one thing about America that strikes me is its size. This might sound a little strange to Americans. Or perhaps it doesn't. Perhaps Americans are fed up of being told that everything is bigger in their country. I don't know, having never asked. I was born on a small island called Britain, a country that truly reeks of the mundane. Before I visited the States, I thought that the whole 'size' thing was just a jealous myth. But everything really is bigger. The cities. The landscape. Occaisionly the people. And the food.

'Xanth ?'

We were sitting in a cafe, watching the New York sidewalk hurry past our window. Above, the sky was overcast, and the window was flecked with tiny, intermittant drops of water, trying hard to be rain. The road was crammed with traffic, including the occaisional infamous yellow taxi-cab. There was the occcaisional blare of a horn. The buildings loomed across the street. Taller than the ones in England.

Xanth looked up at me, over the top of the book he was reading. He was wearing a white jacket, a black top and jeans. Surprisingly, this combination worked. Maybe it was just that he could make most things look good. I wasn't jealous. Clothes have never been of much interest to me. I wear them. That's about it.

'What ?'

I indicated the giant chicken burger in one hand, struggling to keep it in my grasp without it falling apart. It felt like something appraoching a foot high.

'Mind telling me how I'm supposed to eat this ?'

He shrugged. 'With your mouth ?'

'I can't actually fit it in my mouth.' I glanced around at the other people. The cafe was reasonably quiet. Just a few other clients, glancing at the rain. No kids. Thank Christ.

'No?'

'Its like they put an entire chicken carcass in between two pieces of bread'

'Dislocate your jaw like a snake, or something.'

'Might attract a bit of attention.'

'I was kidding' He went back to his book, chuckling. I glanced at the name on the front.

'Larkin ?'

'Yes.'

I remembered. From school. We had studied his works in English. That brought memories back. Classroom air, so heavy. Sunlight filtering through the window. A man in a grey suit and a pink shirt. It was only a year ago, but it felt like a lifetime. So much had changed.

'_Brings closer what is yet to come' _I recited. _'And dulls to distance all we are'_

He closed the book and looked at me steadily.

'Impressive'

'Not really.' I glared at my sandwich as though it were an adversery, before opening my mouth to aching point, and taking a huge bite out of the side. Most of the salad fell out.

'Why those words ?'

'Huh ?' With my mouth full of food, that was about the only word I could manage.

'The ending lines from Ambulances' He rested his elbows on the table, steepled his fingers, and gazed at me. 'Why remember those ?'

It was a moment before I could answer. I swallowed. I had barely made a mark on the burger.

'They were my favourite.' I replied. He was quiet for a moment. Outside, a horn sounded. People bustled. The world moved.

'You know,' he said at last. 'I think Larkin is a bit dry for me.'

I swallowed again, feeling a knot form in my stomach. The food had nothing to do with it.

'I could be wrong' I said. 'Maybe there is such a thing as a 'point''

'Yes' he said. 'I hope you are wrong'. He gazed out as the rain suddenly arrived. People on the sidewalk, moving faster. To him, a hundred souls. To me, a billion cells.

'I really, really hope you're wrong.'

Then he started to laugh. I looked at him.

'What ?'

'You havn't seen the car yet'

'You got us a car ? When ?'

'This morning. You'll like it'

I narrowed my eyes 'Why ?'

'You'll see. You gonna eat that some time today ?'

Half an hour later, we payed, left a tip, and walked out together into the rain.

On our way to JFK airport, I picked up a soggy newspaper from the pavement, discarded by its previous owner moments before. The headline read 'Still no leads on Charred Man Murder'. Below ; 'The hunt for the killers of the unidentified citizen found on Tuesday continues three days after the remains of the victim were found incinerated in Central park.'

Ah yes. He'd been little more than ashes by the time the police arrived. We'd been very efficient. There'd been no way to tell from what was left of him whether he was human or not.

Cells or not, we'd saved a fair few lives that night.

I dropped the paper into the next bin.

_Ok, another part done. And if you are wondering what the hell is going on, then I'm sorry, I'll try to be clearer in future parts. Kai is a nihilist, in case you hadn't grasped that yet._

_*The poem Ambulances can probably be found on the internet if you are REALLY confused about the references. The ending lines can basically be interpreted to mean that humans are nothing more than their physical bodies. Nice and cheery, I know._

_Also, first person to notice the other reference gets an imaginary cookie._


	5. Hunting the Remnants

_You wanted backstory ? No ? Well, you're getting it anyway_

_Stephanie Meyer still owns Twilight._

'You have to be kidding me'

After a tedious plane journey, this was certainly not what I was expecting. It was great, but it wasn't what I had expected. To be honest, I don't know what I was expecting. But this certainly wasn't it.

'What do you think ?'

'What the hell happened to subtltey ?'

'This is America.' Xanth was laughing behind the wheel. I stood outside and shook my head, a wide, idiotic grin plastered across my face. 'As far as I know, they don't have a word for subtle.'

'You actually went there' I sniggered. 'You actually bought a 1970's Muscle car'

He started humming the Dukes of Hazard theme. I pulled open the door to the silver automoble, throwing myself down onto the seat with a sqeak of leather.

'How much was it ?'

'Affordable.' He tapped the side of his nose. 'Volturi funding'

'We must have a nice fat budget.' I glanced out at the ordinary surroundings of the little town, the road almost empty. Apparently we were somewhere called 'Spokane.' Strange name, I thought to myself, for an ordinary little town. We'd run to the pick-up point from the airport in under a minute, where the car had been waiting for us. I had wondered if we actually needed a vehicle to take us to central Washington, but Xanth had said that in order to remain incognito, it would be useful to have one. How this car was incognito, I failed to see.

'Christ, it even has blue racing stripes'

'I was thinking of fitting it with a rear spoiler, but thought I'd better not.'

We set off, leaving the town far behind. Ahead of us stretched miles and miles of dusty road and flat, empty scrubland. All the way to the distant horizon, the gutteral growl of the engine and the sound of the wind our only companions.

'So, you going to tell me the full story ?' I asked him. He looked over quizzically, seemingly ignoring the road.

'Full story ?'

'You haven't said much aside from that we're on our way to Seattle.'

'Sorry. I figured I'd make it a surprise.'

'We're going to hunt vampires. Thats not much of a surprise, Xanth. Its what we do.'

'Fair enough.' He nodded. 'I guess I just didn't want you to start training your Shift powers too much. You certainly would if you knew what we were up against.'

'I train them anyway. I need to. It makes things a lot easier. ' I gazed out at the motionless landscape. 'So its big game, is it ?'

'Certainly is.' Xanth drummed his fingers on the wheel. 'The Volturi have tracked down the remnants of Dolovitch's clan. They reckon that they're hiding somewhere in Washington'

'Dolovitch ?'

'One of the Sponsors group. The clan leader with the gold medallion'

I remembered.

'If you recall, the heads of several clans came to the Sponsor seeking a better integration into human affairs.' Xanth continued. 'The Sponsor, being the biggest 'behind the scenes' man out there, agreed. He could effectively jump-start a vampire's successful political career, perhaps even resulting in a vampire running the country. That's what the Sponsor did. He made people big.'

'He was dying, wasn't he ?'

'Well remembered.' Xanth nodded, eyes back on the road. 'Volturi sources indicated that the Sponsor was dying of leukemia. He had around six months left, at best. So, in return, Dolovitch or Dreys, or one of the others, promised him immortality in return.'

'Do you reckon they would have kept that promise ?'

'Dreys wouldn't have. I don't know about the others.'

'And we killed them'

'Yes' Xanth chuckled darkly. 'All because the Volturi were paranoid of vampires being revealed to mankind.'

'Makes sense.'

'Dolovitch was almost certainly attempting to start an uprising. That's why we're on our way to Seattle. They reckon he was in the process of creating a newborn army. Like I said, the Volturi are paranoid.'

Something flickered in my mind. Something Xanth had said, a while back.

'There was a newborn army in Washington before, wasn't there ?'

'Yes. A lot of things have happened in Washington regarding vampires.' He frowned. 'A lot of truly strange things. The Volturi have been keeping an eye on this place'

'If the Volturi stamped out a Newborn force on their own, why do they need us ?'

'The previous one was no-where near as co-ordinated as this one could be.' Xanth leant back. 'So they asked us to give them a hand.'

'Nothings certain though.'

'No, nothings certain. The army is probably still in its embryonic stage. An idea.'

'Do we have any names ?'

'Nothing. Seattle is the obvious place to go, but we could be completely wrong '

This didn't sound easy. Good. I liked a challenge.

'I guess we'll just have to follow the screams.'

I glanced over at Xanth. There was something amiss with his appearence. It took a few moments to realise what it was.

'What happened to Mr Sparkles ?'

He glanced at me, confused.

'Say again ?'

'The suns out, Xanth'

He smiled. Like a normal person, and not a glittering sculpture. His skin seemed almost human.

'More advantages to working with the Volturi.'

'Explain.'

'Suncream'

I raised an eyebrow.

'Seriously ?'

'Sort of. The volturi have been experimenting with ways to remain undetected, even while moving amongst humans.' He held out an arm. 'It does look a little strange if people have to keep vanishing when the sun is out.'

'To get close to humans ?'

'Actually no. The volturi have started accepting the moral decisions of certain vampires. Those who wish to live a life close to humans, and who refuse to feed from them.'

'Veggies.'

'Exactly'

I looked up at his crimson eyes. Xanth was an 'omnivore'. He only killed animals, and those humans who he felt deserved it. The ones that the police never caught…

'So are we going to be 'integrating' into human life ?'

'For a little while. I have contacts who we will be staying with. They're strictly animal blood only.'

'Oh crap.'

I suddenly realised.

'What ?'

'High school' I put my head in my hands. 'We're going to have to go to high-school. Oh bloody hell.'

He laughed. 'Yep. We'll both be in our last year.'

'Now I see why you didn't tell me anything.' I groaned. 'Bastard.'

Onwards the car sped, scattering dust in the wind, toward Seattle.

_More coming soon. Come on, people, start reading. PLEEAAAAASE._


	6. Awakening

**That lady who owns Twilight still owns Twilight. Stephanie whatserface. The mormon one. Apparently. I'm gonna shut up now.**

One year ago

I wake up falling.

Spiraling downwards, out of sunset clouds. The air screaming past me. My hair whipping against my forehead. A thousand miles into the sky. The whole world far, far below. As though a distant memory, slowly coming in to view.

It's as though I could fall forever, among these clouds. Fall for an eternity, and never touch that dark expanse of ground. It was where I was heading for. But it was not where I belonged.

I am falling alone.

'Am…am I dreaming ?' 'No'

A voice. It is my own. Different. But my own.

I feel light. For the first time in my life, I feel strong.

I feel free.

And as I fall, I reach out both hands to the darkened earth. And the darkness twists and moves, alive, seeking, leaping out. Flowing into my hands. And I realise that it is not the earth that I'm looking at.

Its me.

I'm changing the world.

The clouds explode into shadows around me as my back tears apart in a blaze of black. And I cease falling. The roaring wind crescendos into a maelstrom. Noise.

Then nothing. Nothing but the sound of wingbeats, fading into the heavens.

**Ambiguous ? Yep. Sorry.**

**More to come.**


	7. Seattle

_**Please comment . That'd be great.**_

_**Stephanie Meyer still owns Twilight**_

It was strange seeing the mountains of pine rising out from the wilderness. After a hundred miles of light-brown grass and shrub, those foothills were a welcome sight. Our car never once faltered, always speeding onwards, spinning the road beneath its wheels. Our only stops were for gas. I could go a long time, comfortably, without eating or sleeping. Xanth didn't need to do either.

I realised how much I appreciated the colour green. It lay like a blanket over the sleeping mountains, looming gently to either side of the road. And the rain. In came down in showers, the higher we it would stop, and rays of light would filter down from gaps between the clouds. Announcing the coming evening. Bathing the sloping landscape in shades of gold.

That sky almost reminded me of home. That was the one good thing about South-West England. We got the best skies. And yet it all seemed so far away now. A long, long way behind us.

'Beautiful, isn't it ?' Xanth's eyes were locked onto the clouds above us. So were mine.

'Mind if I get a better look ?'

'Course not.' He checked the road, ahead and in his mirrors. 'No-ones around. We have time.'

We were still travelling at high speeds, the roads empty. I opened the door, climbing onto the roof in one fluid motion. I crouched, shut the door, then stood, staring at the ever-changing sky. As I watched, the clouds moved apart, sending sunlight shooting down into the valley. As though lighting our path.

As I've said, I've never had a strong regard for physics. Standing on a moving car illustrated this.

'_What a life'. _I thought to myself. '_What a strange life…'_

And I was loving every second of it.

Xanth's contacts lived in a large house in what appeared to be Seattle's suburbs, one house away from the nearby junction. It looked as though it was in need of repair- indeed, there was a section of scaffolding set up on one side. The blue paint seemed to be chipping in places. We crossed through the garden, just a small stretch of grass, specked with a few weed-like flowers, and rang the door bell. As we waited, I glanced up at each of the four windows above, and wondered how easy it was to maintain a place of this size. I turned, glancing up and down the road. More large houses. A few kids in the street on bikes. They moved onto the pavement to allow a lone car to pass. It was quiet.

'Is he in ?' I asked Xanth. He didn't answer, just pointed. A dark shape could be seen behind the glass. There was the click of a latch, and the door inched open. I caught a glimpse of one, golden eye, peeking out, and a tangle of greying hair, before the door opened fully. A thin, pale figure stepped out, grabbing Xanth, and pulling him into a bear hug.

'Xanthir !'

Xanth shot me a look that said 'Don't say a word'. I grinned.

'I take it you missed me then.'

The stranger pulled apart and stood, his hands on Xanth's shoulders. I took a moment to look at him properly. The vampire's face was surprisingly youthful, if a little thin. His eyes seemed to be very large, giving him the appearence of perpetual earnest surprise. He was dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. He could have been a little older than Xanth when he was changed, but his curly hair showed signs of aging. He was shorter than Xanth too- closer to my height.

'Its been fifty years' he said. I was surprised to hear a British accent. I guess that would explain his friendship with Xanth. 'Where have you been ? You must tell me. What have you been up to all these years ?' His speech was rapid, as though his mouth was running away with him.

He suddenly looked at me with his golden eyes.

'Is this him ? The mad one ?'

I raised an eyebrow at Xanth. He smirked. I turned to the golden eyed vampire.

'I prefer 'mentally diverse', but mad'll do.'

He laughed. 'Good ! Mad's good. I reckon sanity's a bit overrated don't you ? Come in, come in'

We followed him into the house. The interior was quite dark, sunlight struggling to penetrate indoors. As we entered the living room, he opened the curtains, and the sun flooded in. I blinked.

'Right then, lets get to business.' He flung himself into an armchair, putting his feet up on the nearby, glass coffee table. I sat down next to Xanth on the sofa. The other vampire suddenly sat bolt upright.

'Sorry. I forgot that we have a guest who's not a vampire.' He stood again. 'Can I get you some coffee ?'

'Have you got any?' I asked, smiling. He scratched the back of his neck.

'Actually no. Why would I ?' He sat back down again. I chuckled. Irritating as he was, I was warming to him.

'So,' he said. 'we could discuss your journey here, and what you've been doing for the last fifty years, which would be fascinating for me but tedious for you. Or-' His eyes lit up. 'We could get straight onto plans'

'Just one thing.' I said.

'Yes, of course.' He nodded vigourously. 'Anything you like.'

'Your name.'

'Peter.' He smiled. 'I'm the mad one.'

That made two of us.

'And you're helping us…why ?'

'I owe Xanth a favour.' He raised his hands. 'Xanth saved my life.'

I needed no further explaination. I had already heard the story from my companion.

'He Changed you.'

'Exactly. I was dying. From a sword wound, I might add. Interesting story.' He didn't elaborate. 'And the other reason,' he said, leaning foward. 'I have humanities best interests at heart. That was enough to overcome my thirst. What's good enough for them, is good enough for me. Even if it does mean the death of other vampires.' He sat back again. 'I am by no means a monster like them'

'So, first things first. Before we start on the hunting. School.'

Xanth nodded. I sighed. My day had just got a lot worse.

/

Class' the teacher said. 'Before we start I'd like to introduce our two newest pupils. They recently arrived here from England, so I'm sure you'll want to offer them a warm welcome.' She smiled. 'These two will be with us until the end of the year.'

The end of the year. The end of the goddamn year. How was I going to survive ? The woman's grating voice was getting on my nerves already, and I'd only been here five minutes.

I looked down at the rows of inquisitive faces. My English class. Most of the female eyes were focused on Xanth. Very, very focused. I wasn't surprised.

'Would you two like to introduce yourselves ?'

'Can't we retain an air of mystery ?' I muttered. Xanth elbowed me in the ribs and stepped forward.'

'Hi. I'm Lucas.' He smiled. I prayed that his blue contact lenses didn't fall out. All eyes were on him. 'How're you doing?' He jerked a finger behind him. 'This is my brother Kai.'

'Twin.' I added. A few of the students glanced over. I did my best to smile, whilst trying hard not to make it a leer.

'Do you guys live in a castle ?'

Some joker at the back. Probably dared to shout it by a friend.

'Yep.' Xanth replied. The guy's grin dropped instantly.'We live in a castle.'

'With a moat and everything.' I added.

'Where we eat tea and crumpets,'

'With our really bad teeth' I finished.

Laugher. I relaxed a little. This was a good enough start.

'Have you met the Queen ?' Another guy at the back.

'Yep. Have lunch with her almost every day in fact.' I nodded.

'Everyone who owns a top hat and a monocle does.'

More laughter. Thank Christ.

I glanced at the faces, and instantly glanced away, out through the window, to the playing field outside. All eyes had been turned to Xanth, all but one pair, framed by curtains of dark hair. They belonged to a girl who was sitting a little way in front of us. And those eyes had focused on me. For the brief moment I had glimpsed them, I had seen something there. Something which concerned me.

Recognition.

_Thats not possible_…

I ignored it.

'Ok, settle down, everybody' The teacher pointed to a seat. Even she was smiling. People here must have had a strange sense of humour 'If you two would like to find your seats. Lucas, yours is by Jennifer. Kai, next to Rose.'

I could actually see Jennifer's heart melting as Xanth sat down next to her. She was pretty, certainly. Long, blonde hair and big blue eyes. She was watching him, right up until he glanced at her. She looked quickly away, blushing.

Poor girl. If only she knew…

Rose. Rose was the girl who had been looking at me earlier. I walked over and slipped into the chair beside her, trying not to make eye contact.

That didn't work.

'We've already met.' She said pointedly.

_What ?_

I flicked my eyes up at her sceptically.

'We haven't. You'd run a mile if we had.'

She continued staring. Then, without a word, she turned her attention to the front. I followed suit, confused.

Frantically, my head searched for answers. But none rose to the surface.

Xanth had heard. He looked over. I met his eyes and shrugged.

It was going to be an interesting few months…

_**There we go, part 7. Please review.**_

_**More to come.**_


	8. Meeting

What's this ? Catagory changed to romance ? Well, there might be some if you keep reading… Not yet though.

_Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and it's following novels. Which includes Breaking Dawn, unfortunately._

_Exeter, England._

_350 days ago._

The guy was good, I'll give him that. Stupid. But good.

His blazing sword spun, splitting the night, cutting another dark shape apart. His blonde hair whipping about his face as he moved at an unholy speed, stepping foward and slicing through the neck of another, the figure falling to its knees, bursting into flames. Around him, more appeared, a snarl upon their lips, as they relentlesly assaulted the lone fighter. He ducked under a flying shape, dodged another, bringing his sword up through a third. More flames.

But he was tiring. His movements were slowing, as more and more blows rained furiously down onto him. He kept beating them back, slashing and hacking, but his blows seemed weaker, his strengh fading. This was certainly a losing battle. If I hadn't been there, he would have died in the middle of that darkened street. Already, a hand was grasping the hilt of his sword, attempting to pull it from him. He kicked out, and cut another down.

I decided to intervene.

I jumped from the roof of the house, where I had been positioned previously, watching. Landing lightly amongst the flailing shapes, I drove an open palm into the blonde mans' face. There was a sharp crack, splitting the night air. He flew backwards, away from his foes, landing in the road several metres away.

'Stay down.' I commanded. 'You get up, and you're dead.'

The attackers were frozen, confused. I turned to them, smiling.

'Evening gentlemen.'

I Shifted. That was my first time.

I don't remember a great deal of that fight. The only things that come to mind when I try to are the screams. And the bolt of black force that blew a sizable chunk out of the tarmac. But I know that not one of them survived.

Then everything slipped into shadow.

I came to a minute later, lying on the pavement, propped up against a pile of refuse bags. The street was now empty. I felt weak, dizzy, my vision blurring before my eyes, feeling the sudden urge to vomit. I had passed out.

The vague shape of a man was standing in front of me. As I watched, the edges of the figure solidified into the blonde haired warrior. Now I could see him better- dressed in a black coat, regarding me with scarlet eyes. He didn't look that much older than myself.

'You're awake.'

His speech was fluid. Middle class.

'Just about.' I replied.

He watched me for a while, with those red eyes. At last he spoke.

'Why did you tell me to stay on the ground ?'

The answer was blunt and to the point.

'I would have killed you otherwise.' I managed a grin. 'How's your face ?'

He didn't answer. After a while, he turned to leave.

'So that's it ?' I called after him. He stopped walking. I lay back and sighed. 'Not even a thank you. Some people, eh ? No gratitude.'

'Thank you' he said. Then he started walking again. Disappearing into the night.

'No fear.' I said. That stopped him. He turned.

'Who are you ?'

'I don't know.' I replied. 'I could have told you at some point. Now though,' I continued, putting my hands behind my head, 'I haven't a clue.'

He didn't respond. He just stood there. The distance of worlds separating us.

'No fear.' He said finally. 'No. I suppose not.'

'Who were those guys then ?'

He didn't respond. I repeated the question.

'Can't you say ?'

'No.'

I nodded. 'Fair enough. So why did you attack them ?'

He was motionless. Then a light suddenly flickered in his eyes. He gave me a lopsided smile.

'Ok. I'll tell you.' He stepped over to where I was lying.

'They were not human. I am not human. Neither are you, by the looks of things. So I am not obliged to keep secrets from you.'

'Good. I'm interested.'

'What do you think ?' He cocked his head to one side. 'From what you saw ?'

'What do I think ?' I repeated. 'Well, from the incredible speed, animalistic fighting style, growling, red eyes, bared teeth…well, if I didn't know better, I'd say…'

His eyebrows pulled together.

'Say what ?'

I sat up straight and looked him in his eye. Saw the twinge of fear.

'Vampire.'

His smile vanished.

'Good guess ?' I asked. He suddenly moved foward, crouching down and snarling. I looked at him, a smile playing over my lips.

'Who are you ?' He hissed.

'I've already answered that question.' I lay back and yawned. 'Now tell me. Why the fighting ? Hm ?'

He was still for a moment. Then he rose, stepping back. I couldn't see his face.

'Have you ever loved ?'

The question threw me off balance. I frowned.

'Once,' I replied, confused. 'Ages ago. First girl who ever took interest in me. A few years back. Before I was like this.' I raised my hands. 'You're obviously not interested, so why ask ?'

'What would you do if everything you hold precious, everything that you have ever loved, dreamt about…'

He turned away.

What if it was taken from you ?'

I didn't answer. Then-

'I don't know.'

'No ?'

'No. But I know what you would do. And I'd probably do the same.' I pushed myself up and glanced at him. 'Is that what that was ? A murderous rampage against the people who wronged you ?'

Silence.

'Well, if you're going on a killing spree-'

'That's not what this is.'

He was angry now. I rolled my eyes.

'Oh I'm sorry. A quest of retribution then. That sound better to you ?' I leered at him. 'They're the same thing. Has no-one told you ? One just sounds better.'

'I want it to never happen again.'

I stopped talking. I just looked at him. He stared back. Then he cast his eyes to the sky. Far above, the dark clouds had parted, the pinpricks of stars now visible.

'Yes.' He said. His voice was little more than a whisper. 'I am doing this for her. But not just her. Or me.' He looked back at me, and I could see the emotion burning in his eyes. 'I'm doing it for everybody. All those people, all those souls. Every single one who has lost someone, or been lost to these monsters.'

'You aren't finished.'

'Nowhere near.'

We were silent once more. The sounds of traffic were carried in on the breeze. Faint music from some distant park. There was a music festival going on. A long way away from this street.

I held out a hand. He looked at it confused. I sighed.

'I'm offering a hand.'

'No.' He took a step back. 'You're dangerous. You're a monster too. How do I know I can trust you ?'

'Well, I've got nothing better to do.'

'Who are you ?' Those eyes burning into mine.

'I don't-'

He shook his head.

'Your name.'

'Thats not the same thing. A name is just a label'

'You could at least tell me'

'Kai. Kai Summers'

He took the hand, warily. Shook it.

'Xanthir.'

I rose to my feet. Not in the conventional sense. I ascended as though my heels were on a hinge, unaided. He stepped back.

'Just Xanthir ?' I asked. He relaxed a little.

'I prefer Xanth'

'Xanth it is then. So,' I said, rolling my shoulders with a crack and wincing at the stiffness. 'Where to ?'

'If you can keep up, you'll see.'

He took off running into the dark. To his surprise, I kept up with him.

The street was now empty. Quiet. Only I had noticed the single lily, silently pushing its way out of the rubbish bags, before I followed Xanth into the night and lost it from view.

Reviews appreciated.

_More to come._


	9. New 'Friends'

_**A bit fillerish, I know. It'll get better, I promise**_

_**Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.**_

First day of school was relatively easy, if dull. After sitting through two lessons, I was considering slamming my face into a pair of pencils to alleviate the boredom, but I didn't think Rose, or any of my classmates, would appreciate it. Fortunately, the subjects I had decided upon taking were close to my original ones in England, so I was on familiar ground there. Unfortunately the girl Rose was in most of them.

She hadn't spoken a word to me since English. She hadn't even looked in my direction. I hoped it was from embarrassment, and not because she was thinking furiously. We were now in music, another subject I had taken back at my old school. I had thought I was bad at it, and truth be told, I was, but a good number of my classmates simply hadn't a clue. I found myself just raising my hand for the sake of something to do.

'Any ideas on the composer of this piece?' the guy at the front asked, switching off the recording that had been playing with a click.. He was pretty young for a teacher. Smooth shaven face, fair hair. He almost reminded me of Xanth, except he was a lot shorter, and not built like a marble wall. I looked around at the others, seeing that a few hands were raised. I lazily put mine up in the air with them, feeling faintly ridiculous, and wondering what on earth I was doing.

'Kai ?'

Bugger.

I could feel eyes on me. It was almost uncomfortable. Almost.

'Beethoven.'

He raised his eyebrows.

'Nice guess.' He smiled. 'Why do you say that ?'

I shrugged. 'Its his sixth'

A few whispers. Sideways glances. The blonde teacher nodded.

'Looks like our new friend is quite cultured!'

'Coincidence, actually. His fifth and six are the one I've heard. I just got lucky.'

'Thats more than most of these guys.'

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl sitting close to Rose stick her tongue out.

'So. What makes this Beethoven ?'

No hands. Apart from mine. What the hell was I doing?

'Kai again?'

'Its not boring.'

'Speak for yourself.' A mutter behind me. I turned, grinning.

'You listen to much music ?' I turned back. 'What I mean is, its not like the music of the era before and after. Its not that clinical precision of Classical, which sounds like a notated maths lesson. And its not that vomit inducing, overly dramatic Romantic music that came afterwards. Its sandwiched in between the two.' I turned back to the stocky guy sitting behind me. 'Trust me. Its better than some.'

The teacher laughed. The guy behind me raised an eyebrow. Someone whispered something that sounded a lot like 'nerd'

'So what, you like this stuff ?'

I shrugged.

'It doesn't make me want to stick pins in my eyes like some music. It's alright.'

'Whats your favourite type of music, Kai ?'

The teacher. Why ask ?

'Japanese techno death metal.' I answered, deadpan. The guy behind me burst out laughing. So did everyone else. Someone actually started clapping.

'Seriously ?'

I turned back to him.

'Have you ever heard it ? No ? Then you can't pass judgement.' Then in a whisper, below the laughter. 'But no, you're right. It's shit.'

He grinned. I'd saved it.

'Settle down guys.' The teacher was smirking. 'Now, onto some of the other composers we will be studying…'

I looked over at Rose, her friend whispering in her ear, glancing at me. Without turning, she nodded once.

She didn't look embarrassed. She look as though she was thinking. Thinking furiously. Dammit.

I faced the front, and tried to make some effort at concentrating.

*********

Lunch was a different story. I mainly let Xanth do the talking there, occaisionly chipping in, but silent for the most part. It seemed like he already had a fanclub. I was amused by the layout along our table in the cafeteria. It was obvious who the 'in' crowd were, and what I suppose would be the 'out' crowd, or as I liked to think of it, 'everyone else'. One club were on one side of him, the others on the other. I was sitting opposite him. It was as though he was a bridge between the two friendship groups.

And all ye who wear the designer brands shall be seated at the right hand of Xanth… Surprisingly enough, the seats to either side of Xanth were occupied by female company. The same was true for me, but that was because they were trying to get close to my companion. I wondered why, before realising that he was still a stranger to them. They weren't as familiar with his personality as I was. 'So you aren't eating anything ?' asked the girl on Xanth's left, prodding his shoulder. A hyperactive girl with short, shoulder length hair and a stripy top, who had introduced herself as Chloe. She had been the first one to get a seat next to Xanth, mainly because she was able to bounce past everyone else. You had to admire her energy.

'No, I usually skip lunch.' The table in front of Xanth was empty.

'Really ? Why ?'

He was only talking about skipping meals. Why was she so enthralled ?

'He's on a diet.' I smirked. 'He's very self concious about his weight.'

'Like hell I am. I might end up like you.' He nodded at my rake-like arms.

'True. No the real reason he skips lunch is because of the amount he eats when he wakes up.' I pointed at him with my fork, my mouth half full. 'Seriously. This guy emptied the whole fridge once. At eight in the morning.'

Xanth grinned, pretending to remember. He was convincing enough.

'I was hungry.'

'And thirsty, obviously. I was wondering where all the beer went until he told me. Funny thing was, he wasn't intoxicated afterwards.' I grinned. 'Guy can hold his drink.'

'Don't believe Kai. He has problems with his head.'

'Not too loud, everyone will want them.'

I went back to my meal. Xanth gave me a brief glare. He'd have to prove his 'drinking ability' now, once people got wind of it.

'So you must work out loads, or something.' The girl on my right said. She wore angular glasses, not dissimilar from my own. Jennifer was on my left. She had just been watching Xanth the whole time with big blue eyes, not saying a word, playing with a lock of her hair. I felt a little sick.

'A fair bit, yeah. Every day in fact.'

I wondered how this was for Xanth. Keeping them interested, being friendly whilst maintaining his usual distance.

'Hey, we're having a party this Saturday.' A voice from further down the table. A taller girl was sitting there, on the 'in-crowd' side. 'You guys should come.'

Xanths eyes met mine. A small pause. I think he could see the pleading in my eyes.

Please no, please no, we're busy, on holiday, anything but that, please just say no…'

I saw him smirk. Then-

'That sounds great ! What time is it ?'

May you rot forever, Xanth, you prick.

'Starts at eight.'

'Till ?'

She smiled and shrugged.

'Whenever.'

'Whenever sounds good. Doesn't it Kai ?'

'Whenever sounds splendid.' I replied, trying not to grit my teeth.

'Who's coming ?'

'Pretty much everyone. Seriously, it'll be like a welcome party for you guys.'

'How come we didn't hear about it ?' Chloe piped up. The tall, bronze haired girl shrugged again.

'We were going to. We decided on it yesterday.'

_Sweet Jesus, thats some money right there. Considering the place will be trashed in about an hour._

_Hell, I could Shift and trash it in a second. Actually no, bad idea._

I looked up and down the table for Rose, but she was no-where to be seen.

_**As always, review and comment.**_

_**More to come.**_


	10. Phone Call

You know when I said that the original characters from series wouldn't make an appearance ?

_**I lied.**_

Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.

When we got back to the house, Peter was out. Instead, we were met by Xanth's other contact, Quentin. Gold eyes, a deep, gentle voice, and skin as black as coal. Gold rings covered one hand, and he sported a long, brown, leather jacket, reaching behind his knees. From what I gathered, he was Peter's partner. Xanth knew him already too, despite the other vampire having an American accent. I guess the two contacts were a couple the last time he saw them.

'Phone rang' he said, as we made our way to the living room. A small table had been positioned in the middle, surrounded by two chairs and the sofa. The table itself was overflowing with papers and maps, weighted down on one side by a black laptop.

'For us ?'

'Some guy named Felix.'

I exchanged glances with Xanth.

'He's volturi.'

Quentin nodded slowly.

'Figured as much. What with you working with them and all.'

'We don't like it. But we're getting a lot more success these days than we ever did.'

He looked up quickly.

'I'm not saying anything. If it means more red-eyes gone, then it can't be a bad thing. Just,' He paused. 'Its strange, don't you think? Killing monsters, for monsters.'

'Its not for the volturi. They just happen to benefit from it.'

'Sure. I hear you. If it works, it works.' He sat back. 'This guy said he'd ring again round about-'

The phone rang, resounding through the house. Quentin chuckled.

'…now.' He finished.

I rose, went into the hall, and before Xanth could stop me, picked up the phone from its hook.

'Been a while, hasn't it? How's Italy?' I tried to sound as chirpy as possible. Just to wind him up.

Xanth mouthed something at me. I ignored him. He rolled his eyes.

A pause. Then-

'I wouldn't know,' came the velvety voice. 'That is not where we are.'

'Pity. I heard Volterra's beautiful this time of year.'

'Aro wants you to see him.' The voice carried a faint trace of exitement. I frowned.

'Aro has a mouth. And as far as I remember, he's not retarded. He can talk to us personaly.'

'Aro is unavailable at present.'

'Why?'

'How quickly can you get to Forks ?'

I mouthed the word at Xanth. He shook his head. He didn't know either.

'You tell us where Forks is, and we'll see. Actually, we have Google, your directional skills are redundant.' I glanced at Xanth, listening intently. 'So what, Aro and friends are in Washington all of a sudden ? What's going on ?'

'We've found a newborn.'

That stopped me.

'Dolovitch's ?' I asked. This could be good. If we found one, we could possibly trace it back to its source. With a little persuasion of course. I was already thinking of our black briefcase, in the trunk of the car, filled with various vials and needles. Our bag of tricks. They wouldn't have worked on the guarded mind of a mature bloodsucker, but on that of a newborn….

'Perhaps. We have a large gathering of vampires on our hands. You'd be useful here.'

'Tell me about the newborn. Regular vampires are economical with feeding, newborns aren't. Thats my priority. The rest I'll deal with afterwards.'

'There is only one. A child.'

'And the rest ?'

'She appears to have been Changed by a group of…well, how does one put it… 'vegetarians' ?' The word was said with distain, as though Felix was struggling to chew something unpleasant.

I froze. Xanth did likewise. The other vampire had gone very tight lipped. We looked at each other.

_Not Dolovitch._

'Numourous regular vampires also appear to be guarding her.'

Xanth nodded at me and mouthed _We're going._

I turned back to the phone. We had to stop both parties. And this was the only way.

'Not interested.'

I slammed the phone down before he could reply. Xanth was grinning.

'How quickly can we get over to Forks ?' I asked.

'Quickly enough. I'll get the case.'

I clapped my hands.

'Lets get moving.'

One minute later, we left the car on the drive, and sprinted west.

Oh yes. You know whats going on. Apologies for the short chapter.

_**It will be canon.**_

_**More to come.**_


	11. Breaking Dawn

_S. Meyer still owns Twilight. _

'There. In the trees'

I glanced out of the window, feeling the car begin to slow. To our right lay a steep bank, strewn with fallen twigs and leaves from the surrounding trees. The weak sun, already hampered by the clouds, struggled to enter through the thin sliver of sky above us, between branches. There was the crunch as Xanth pulled the car onto the grass beside the road.

It wasn't our car. We'd 'borrowed' it five minutes earlier. I figured we might as well arrive at the scene in style. We left a note for the owner, so he'd know where to find it, along with a wallet crammed with Volturi cash for compensation. I hoped they wouldn't mind.

In the gloom, I glimpsed a figure, standing atop the rise. Her face was cloaked, but her stature gave away her identity. She watched the car for a moment, and when we made no move to leave, she turned, and stepped beyond the lip of the bank with inhuman grace. I watched the space where she had been standing.

'A welcome party. How nice.' Xanth drummed his fingers on the wheel and sighed. 'And now for the melodrama.'

'Maybe there'll be cake.' I said. He chuckled.

'Let's not keep them waiting.'

We got out together. Taking the briefcase, I made my way up the rise, hearing the low clunk as Xanth locked the car, tossed the keys underneath, and followed me. As we went deeper into the forest, the gloom thickened, small shafts of sun filtering down from the leaves overhead. She was trying to remain unseen, whilst maintaining a reasonably close distance to us. It didn't work. I caught glimpses of cloak, heard the whispers as she moved ahead of us. Eventually, when we were a good distance from the road, she stopped the antics, and stepped out from behind the trunk of a tree.

'Hi.' I said. She stood motionless. I gave her a small wave.

'You usually play peekaboo before talking?' I grinned. 'I'm not up to date with Volturi custom, sorry.

She lowered her hood, and smiled at us with her doll-like mouth and large eyes. The face of a child's on a blood drinking monster. She opened her mouth and spoke. Hearing that innocent voice sound from her throat made my stomach twitch.

'For people who weren't coming, you're quite early.'

'Yeah, well.' I shrugged. 'Changed our mind. Decided we didn't want to miss the party.'

'Aro wants you behind him. We don't know how this will play out.'

'Do we get cake? I like cake.'

Her smile vanished.

'Remind me why we're working with you again.'

'For our charm and charisma.' I raised my hands in a gesture of mock grandeur, never taking my eyes from her. She gave a disgusted sneer.

'And our dashing good looks.' Xanth's voice behind me. I chuckled.

'My apologies. Must have missed those.' I saw her eyes focus on mine. An instant later, the unnatural sensation exploded beneath my skin. No pain. She intended for it to hurt, but there wasn't the agony that I had seen her inflict on others. It was just mildly discomforting. A dull ache.

Some powers influence the mind. And every mind is different. Mine more so than others.

I raised a hand and examined it, flexing the fingers.

'Nope. Still not working, Jane.'

She smiled, and the sensation vanished.

'Just checking.'

'Of course.' I tilted my head to one side with a sharp crack, and gave her a leer. 'My turn.'

My irises changed to white.

'Kai.' A warning hiss from Xanth. I shook my head.

'Relax. I was just kidding.' I glanced at him. He wasn't smiling. I turned back to Jade. In a split second I was inches from her face. She blinked. Behind me, Xanth was still.

I studied her face. The smile was just about there, but she was struggling to maintain it. Every nerve in her body was currently telling her to attack me, or run.

'So,' I said. 'What's happening?'

Without taking her eyes off mine, she raised a hand and pointed to her left. I looked. There, draped across a fallen tree trunk, were a pair of large, black, shapeless pieces of material. Hooded cloaks. One for each of us.

'You'll need those.'

I stood, moving past her, the foliage cracking underfoot. Stopping at the fallen tree, I grabbed a handful of cloth and ran it through my fingers. The material slipped through like sand.

'Very nice. Very swish.' I turned back to Jane. 'I've always wanted one of these. Makes me look like the Grim Reaper. That guy has style.'

'Aro gave the impression he wants them returned after you have finished.'

I grimaced, sucking the air through my teeth.

'Ah, he's going to be pissed then. I'm having this one.'

'Tell him that when you see him.' She turned, and began to step lightly deeper into the forest. 'Come. He's waiting for us.'

I was aware of Xanth next to me, sliding his arms through the holes in his robe, and raising the hood. As we watched Jane's back recede into the forest darkness, he lightly tapped my arm.

'Try not to annoy them too much. Please. They're our sponsors.'

'Ah, you know what we do to Sponsors.'

'Seriously, Kai. The Volturi are a big help. Don't ruin this for us.'

'I won't. They haven't expended their usefulness just yet.'

'You loaded up?'

'Yep.' I reached into my jacket. Purgatory's sleek form was still there, barrel sheathed in my left pocket, its weight reassuring. The clips were in my right.

'Let's go.'

Moments later, cloaked in Volturi garments, we watched the ensuing scene with disbelieving eyes.

'Half-Vampire?' I hissed to Xanth. I gazed across the divide at the child, a tiny form surrounded by its blood-sucking guardians. He didn't answer. I looked again at the amassed ranks of defiant vampires. The tension between them and the surrounding Volturi was almost tangible in the air. It didn't help that a small chasm had been cast by the others, splitting the earth in no-mans land. But the child…

'This is bull. How can that kid be a half vamp-'

My words were interrupted by a sudden blaze of white light, coming from our side of the divide. I avoided the impulse to shield my eyes, trying to see what had occurred. Instinctively, my other hand had gone to my pistol, but there was no need.

The informant was on fire, screaming. Caius was standing beside her, a small, glinting object in one hand. She collapsed into flaming ash.

One down. So many more to go.

'They believe them.' I muttered.

'So do I.' Xanth replied, quietly.

My hand was still on my gun.

'They brought the others here.' I whispered. 'The ones in the middle. The veggies. They brought the others here.'

He was silent.

'So?' I continued. 'We have an excuse. They've drawn clans of bloodsucking monsters to this place. Mass murder. All for one, sweet little kid.'

Aro was addressing his opponents across the gap. I looked up at Xanth, but his face was obscured by the hood. I grinned.

'Come on. Lets start the party.'

'We can't.'

I frowned.

'Why not?'

'Not till the Volturi make a decision.' Despite his words, his fists were clenched. 'We can't risk compromising a valuable ally.'

'Screw the Volturi. You wanted to kill monsters. Here's your chance.'

'No.' He was motionless. 'If we do, then what? We have to abide by the Volturi's interests.'

'You heard Caius. They want a fight.'

'Listen to me. To take that many vampires, you'll have to go into Shift. And if you go into Shift, then its not just them you'll be killing.' I looked down at his hand and realised it was shaking. 'It'll be everyone. Volturi. The kid. Maybe even me. Maybe even yourself.'

I just watched him.

'You said that you'd help me,' he continued quietly. 'So please. I want us to keep on fighting like we've always done. I can't get involved.'

I looked back at the rows of vampires. How many people had died for that tiny child? How many more would die if we let them go?

No. No more.

'Sorry Xanth. But you're going to have to get involved.' I smiled. 'How else are you going to stop me?'

I Shifted. Almost. The darkness burst into my soul. Shadows poured from my fingertips. But there was something else. Something stopping it.

Xanth's hand was clenched around my wrist. I stared up into his face. His eyes were wild, furious. But that wasn't all.

'Look, Kai!' he spat. 'Look at the goddamn ground!'

I looked. There, pushing their way from between the blades of grass, sighing around his shrouded feet, were a group of lilies.

Shift left me. I hadn't been in it long enough to feel the after-effects in any great amount. The Volturi were too focused on the half-vampire child to have noticed anything.

So we just stood there, useless, and watched.

As always, R+R 


	12. Rose

I've taken a break from plotting worldwide domination to add chapter 12. So please review. That'd be awsome.

_**Stephanie Meyer still owns your face. And Twilight. But mainly your face.**_

_**I'm gonna shut up now.**_

I watched them leave the house through the darkness. From my position on the roof-top, I could see everything. Every step. They would walk from the door, briefly illuminated by the light, before taking off into the shadows of the surrounding forest. And not a single one looked up.

I watched the current pair, making their way along the drive. As they walked, I unscrewed the cap of the small silver vial, and soundlessly poured a single drop onto the ground below. As it hit the gravel, it's colour vanished. Undetectable, odourless, it began to slide, following its two targets. And when they broke into a run, it rose from the ground, and sped off after them.

I couldn't hurt them whilst they were still in Washington. The Volturi had let them go, and they'd put two and two together if any one of these vampires died here. Once they'd left the border, however, it would be harder for the Volturi to keep tabs on them. And I'd know roughly where they were. Once this job was over, I'd be coming for them.

Nothing lasts forever. Not even fortune.

_I have you now, you bastards._

'So where's Lucas ?'

Five minutes into school and they were already asking where he was. Inwardly, I sighed, wondering how many more times I'd be asked that.

It had been a few days since the incident in Forks. He'd forgiven me, eventually. And he'd agreed upon the use of the tracking serum. But he'd almost reverted back to his old, wary self. I knew he was just recovering from the turmoil of letting so many monsters go unscathed. It wouldn't last.

He'd left the night before, just for a while. He usually hunted at night. I'd admired his techniques for human feeding when he explained them to me. One method was astoundingly simple. Walk around the roughest parts of the city in a suit and a rolex upon his wrist, talking on a ridiculously expensive phone. He may as well have dropped dollars into the street. It was only a matter of time before someone jumped him. They'd have little time to regret it.

I hoped that hunting would take his mind of things. Its surprising how theraputic tearing someone's limbs off can be.

'He's ill.' I replied. 'Nothing serious. He's been a bit under the weather every since we started school here. I guess it just caught up with him.'

'Well, he'd better be ok.' Chloe poked me in the chest. We were heading towards our next lesson. She almost reminded me of Peter, in that her likeability wasn't hampered by how irritatingly hyperactive she was. 'Cos its Amber's party tonight. You guys said you'd come.'

I raised an eyebrow.

'I thought you didn't like her ?'

'Hey, a party's a party. And if it weren't for you and Lucas, we wouldn't be going.'

'Fair enough.'

'She's ok. Its just some of her friends though.' She leaned in close conspiratorially. 'You'll never guess what one of her friends did with a guy at a party a couple of nights back.'

'Stepped on a sandwich ?'

She looked at me blankly, cocking her head to one side.

'Huh ?'

'That was my guess.' I said, deadpan. She shook her head.

'You're weird.'

'Agreed.' The girl was very perceptive.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw blonde hair overtaking us. Jennifer glanced at us over her shoulder, her big blue eyes wide. She'd registered Xanth's absence. She looked away as I made eye contact, and hurried down the corridor, her golden locks bouncing.

'She so fancies him.' Chloe muttered. I glanced at her.

'And shes the only one, is she ?' I asked. Her cheeks changed colour as she looked away. I watched Jennifer's head bobbing amongst the crowd of other students, and shook my head.

'Funny thing, isn't it ?' I said to myself.

'What ?'

There was a very pointed cough behind me. I turned. Rose.

Oh sh-

'Where's Xanth ?'

'Ill' I said. She nodded. Her eyes never left my face.

'You got time to talk ?' she asked. I tried to swallow.

'I have to go. Lesson. Like, over there.' I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. Smooth talking Kai. Congratulations.

'Lunch then.' She suddenly smiled. Her raven hair was tied back, and I could see more of her face. I liked that smile 'Theres a bench outside. You'll see it. By the tree.' She gave a nod.

'Be there, ok ?'

Then she walked past me, continued down the hall, and was lost in the throng of people.

I was motionless, watching her go. Then I felt a push against my shoulder. Chloe.

'Sco-ore !' She sang. I glared at her.

'Dont. Say. A word.'

'Then I won't.' She giggled. Then-

'What did she call Lucas ? Sam, or something ?'

I froze.

She'd called him Xanth. Not Lucas. Xanth.

What the hell ?

'When is lunch ?'

'Same as ever. After this lesson.' Chloe was grinning. 'Why-y ?'

I glanced at her, smiling back. Only one corner of my mouth raised. She didn't notice what it carried.

'I have a date to catch.'

Lunch couldn't come quick enough. After dragging my consciousness through the lesson, I was the first to go upon the bell ringing. I couldn't get out of the room quick enough without drawing attention to myself. I pushed through everyone else, caring little about the people I shoved, and practically burst through the doors leading outside.

I could see the bench from here. She was already there, sitting beneath the tree. The wind was blowing her ponytail out to one side. Waiting for me.

I made my way towards her. Stopped a few feet away. Watched her. Watching me. Silence.

'You want to tell me what this is about ?'

She tilted her head to one side.

'You want to sit down ?'

'No.'

She nodded.

'Ok.' She smiled. 'You look better without the mask.'

'So I was wearing a mask ?'

'White. Covered your entire face.'

'And my eyes ?'

'Well, they were white too. When you kicked that guy into the pillar. They were white.'

Very perceptive.

'Usually its people asking me who I am.' I said. A few leaves spun down from the branches above.

'Not this time ?'

'No.'

'Then maybe,' she said, 'I can tell you.'

I stood there, beneath the tree, and listened.

As always, please comment. Criticism and reviews are always accepted.


	13. Memory

Hi guys. Before I start, I'd just like to say a big thank you to whoever's reading at the moment. I don't want to dissuade anyone from reviewing- quite the opposite the more reviews, good or bad, the better. If you fancy putting anything at all down in the reviews section, go for it. Everything's appreciated- especially critisism. Its a big help.

Thanks :P

Stephanie Meyer still owns Twilight.

_**5 months ago**_

'You still see them ?'

I took a last bite of pizza, and leaned against the wall of the carpark stairwell. Watching the two men through the narrow glass window set into the door. The stairs stank of disinfectant, and an underlying reek of something worse. I'd started to wish that I'd finished the takeaway earlier. Eating it here ruined it somewhat.

Poor Xanth. His potential lunch had traversed these stairs moments before. And his senses were heightened. That couldn't have been pleasant.

My mask was over my forehead. White and expressionless. We always used them in case, by some stroke of misfortune, someone saw us.

Xanth and Kai. Masked heroes. Almost.

I backed away from my viewpoint. Our position was illuminated by the sickly yellow lighting above. If they turned, they'd see us. Not that it'd help them much.

'Yep.' I watched them shamble away from us. One dressed in a long coat, and sporting dreadlocks. The other wearing a sleevless white shirt and jeans. Bald. 'Still stoned out of their minds.'

'Ugh.' Xanth shook his head. 'I hate having to do this.'

'We didn't have time for anything else.' I looked back.

'Ah crap.' I said. His figure tensed.

'What ?'

I peered through the door, inwardly cursing as my breath steamed the glass.

'Theres someone else.'

'Who ?'

'Some girl. She's going to her car' I looked again, trying to keep myself hidden. 'Oh hello.'

'What ?' Xanth was crouched behind me. I could hear the frustration in his voice

'They're heading towards her.'

'They the only ones ?'

'Yep. Apart from them, no-one.' I froze at the sudden flash of silver in one of the men's hand. 'And Dreads has a knife.'

For a second, we exchanged glances. Then-

'Move. Go !'

I didn't need telling. Pulling my mask onto my face, I wrenched the heavy door open, and started walking swiftly. Dreads was holding the blade out to one side, and the other man took it.

She hadn't seen them. As she unlocked the car, a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She was spun, shoved into the door, the blade held up to her throat. She struggled as the bald man thrust his face into hers.

'Wallet, bitch ! Now !'

She stared at him, shocked, uncomprehending. I couldn't see his face, but the state of his eyes was easy to imagine.

'Wha- ?'

'Gimme your goddamn wallet !'

She didn't move, her eyes flicking between the two of them. Her leg suddenly kicked out, connecting with the mans knee. Instinctive bravado. He stepped foward, unfazed, and struck her across the cheek with the back of his hand. She slid down the car, clutching her face, tears welling in her eyes.

'Little fighter huh ?' The man was laughing. So was his companion. Both had their backs to us. He crouched down, putting his face into hers once more. Raising the blade.

'Once more. Wallet and keys. Now.'

She spat into his face. He lashed out again, and she cried out. The man stood, backing up and tossing the blade to his companion.

'Make the little bitch squeal.' He chuckled. 'We can have fun with this one.'

His friend moved in, tapping the flat of the blade against his temple. She flinched away, tears welling from between her fingers.

Dread's progress was impeded by the foot that was suddenly between his legs from behind. He let out a squeak, and fell to his knees, clutching himself in pain. Xanth kicked him again, this time in the back of the head, and the user's face smashed onto the floor, nose breaking with a crack. The bald man whirled, froze.

'…the f- ?'

Xanth shrugged. Behind his gold mask, I could see the amusement in his eyes.

'You said to make the little bitch squeal. So I did.'

The man launched himself at Xanth, fists flailing. He didn't get close. I yanked him backwards, so that he faced me, and launched a foot into his chest. He tripped backwards into a support, legs buckling as he hit it and slipped down onto the floor. As he scrambled to his feet, I threw a fist into his jaw. Another crack, and his eyes rolled skyward in their sockets. He fell again, and didn't get up.

The man with the dreadlocks was making an attempt to raise himself, blood pouring from his nose and pooling on the concrete. I nodded at him.

'Xanth. Keep him down.'

The vampire lightly placed a foot on the struggling man's neck and pushed. He stopped moving, giving a low whimper. I bent down to the girl, never once looking at her face. She flinched as I reached a hand out, slipped her cell phone from her pocket and stood. After dialling 911, I tossed it to her. Surprisingly, she caught it, clenching it in her hands. Staring with wide eyes at us. I turned my back on her, and started to walk.

'Thank us later.'

Xanth lifted his foot, picked up the man, and slung him over one shoulder with ease. We stopped by the other one, and he reached down, grabbing the limb figures wrist, and started dragging him with surprising speed towards the stairwell. He left a slick trail of sweat and blood when he moved.

They weren't missed. They were never found, although the police arrived shortly afterwards alongside the ambulance, lights flashing, sirens blaring. And I thought that I'd never hear about the incident again.

I never expected to be wrong.

_**As always, more to come…**_


	14. Absence

Ok guys, confession to make. I'm not going to e able to update very often now, as I am currently in the process of working on a proper novel. In terms of priorities, this fanfiction isn't at the top. However, I'll keep the (apparent) quality same as always.

_**PLEASE REVIEW. And enjoy.**_

'Xanth?'

It was later that evening, and Xanth and I were in the car, heading for the party. The sky was tinged with the slightest crimson, as if a last defense against the dark. The shadowy forms of trees flashed past at the side of the road. The girl, Amber, lived a little way out of town, and the city had given way to green.

I'd actually changed into a shirt for once, a greyish, casual thing I cared little for. Xanth said it looked good on me, even when I pointed out it wasn't black, and therefore wouldn't suit me. He was wearing a dark t-shirt and jeans. I felt as though we had somehow, by some bizarre misfortune, swapped outfits.

He turned his head a little, blonde quills swaying.

'Something wrong?'

I leant my head against the door window, gazing at the darkening woods.

'Why don't I remember?'

He watched me for a while, not needing to look at the road.

'You said you did.'

'Almost. The memory's returning. But its like…' I thought for a moment, hand grasping air, as though trying to pull a tangible recollection to the surface of my mind. 'Its like thinking through a cloud. Like remembering a dream.'

He didn't speak.

'So why didn't I remember her face?'

'Haven't got a clue.'

I looked at his face. Caught a glimpse of something there.

'That's bullshit.'

He looked back at the road. I nudged his arm.

'Xanth? Please?'

'You won't like the reason.'

'Is that why you didn't say anything? You recognised her. You had to have done'

'Yes. I did. And I'm sorry.'

'Then tell me.' I gripped his arm harder. 'Because its my head. It's fragmented, twisted and messed up. But its my head.'

Silence. The Xanth leant back and sighed, running a hand through his hair. I watched him for a moment before he replied.

'After I drank my fill from those two scumbags, we got a cab back to our hotel that we were staying in. You remember? With the atrocious curtains?'

'I don't remember the cab journey.'

He nodded.

'You were acting strange. Stranger than usual. It was scaring the driver. You had your head in you hands, muttering like you were possessed.'

I tried to think. Perhaps it was a memory, perhaps it was the result of my imagination, but in my minds eye something swam into view.

'About what?'

'Rose.'

Silence. I felt a little sick.

'Please don't tell me-'

'Yes. You did see her. And you took a liking to her. That's what was driving you even madder than you normally are. You'd fallen in lo-'

'Don't.' I put my face in my palm, and let out a slow breath. My stomach twisted. 'Don't say it.'

'After we got back, you locked yourself in your room.' Xanth continued after a pause. 'Without a word. Quarter of an hour later, I hear banging coming from behind the door.' He was quiet again, as if reluctant to rein his words into his mouth. 'There was black smoke issuing through the cracks.'

I hadn't remembered that part. I wouldn't have. Memories of Shift were always hazy at best.

'I broke open the door. You were sitting on the bed. I don't know if you were aware of you thoughts, but you appeared to be attempting to make severe alterations.'

'How so?'

'With a metal hammer. To your own forehead.'

Silence filled the car. All that could be heard was the purr of the engine, and the whisper of air outside. Unconsciously, I reached up and touched a lock of hair, hanging in the centre of my forehead. There was no mark to suggest that any damage had been caused, but I knew. Xanth was telling the truth. I had tried to physically smash the sentimental side from my brain. And I had been in Shift.

'What then?' I asked after a minute. He sighed.

'You looked at me, whispered something, and collapsed. You were unconscious for a good nine hours.'

Nine hours, and a day's memory loss. All in an effort to remove the human side forever. To ensure that I remained mentally damaged. It had almost worked. Almost.

We drove on, into the dusk. A moment later, I turned to Xanth.

'Where the hell did I get a hammer from?'

He laughed. I shook my head, exasperated.

'I have no idea,' he answered. 'Came in useful though. When I had to repair the door.'

'Oh, well, that's fine then.'

'We're here.'

I looked up. Xanth pulled onto what appeared to be a drive, disappearing between the leaves of a hedgerow. It twisted a little, suddenly opening out onto a large open gravel space, parked cars, and a huge, imposing house. It gave of a sense of the twenty first century, with huge, glass windows, and a roof that had an impressive warped effect. There were circular wooden steps leading up to it, upon which lounged a group of teenagers that I recognised from our year. Most of them had a bottle in hand- one, a wiry boy of medium height and eye-catching, bright purple hair combed over one eye, had a cigarette in his hand, blowing smoke rings into the evening air. Xanth pulled into space with a crunch of gravel, and I leant back, gazing in admiration at the palatial abode. There was the sound of music thumping from inside.

'Told you she was loaded.'

'I didn't dispute that for a second.' He got out, and I followed him, the drive's surface crunching underfoot.

As we neared, one of the guys on the steps stood, and gave a drunken wave. I inwardly chuckled. He was drunk already, and we were only five minutes late. At least the evening would be entertaining in some form or another.

'Hey! It's the British guys!'

He launched himself at Xanth from his step in an aerial hug. Xanth caught him in the crook of one arm, face entirely deadpan, and lowered him to the ground. There was laughter from his friends. The guy looked bewildered.

'You are just…awesome' he said, swaying slightly. Xanth shrugged.

'The feeling is mutual'

The door opened, and I caught sight of the tall form of Amber, descending with aristocratic grace towards us. She was wearing a bright orange dress, and her hair hung loose in immaculate curls. The effect was spoiled somewhat by the bottle in her hand.

I've never been drunk in my life. Anything that upset the clarity of thought was a big no-no for me. Besides, alcohol leads to a lack of inhibition, and it's my inhibitions that stop people from dying around me. I didn't want to risk it.

'You guys just going to stand around in the cold, or what?'

'Just arrived.' I said. 'Where's Gatsby?'

She pointed at Xanth. 'You, big guy, have a crowd to please.'

'Um…'

Xanth didn't have a chance to answer, as she took him by the arm, and led him inside. I rolled my eyes, and followed.

_**PLEASE REVIEW, YOU'LL BE THE BEST PEOPLE EVAAARGH.**_

_**Thanks for reading.**_


	15. Bizarre Dimension

_**I haven't done anything on this Fanfic for ages, thanks to my other project taking up all available writing time. So this is a little merging fun between the two. It won't make any sense. If you want me to continue with this fanfic, please say, review and read. The continuation of this (shoddy) piece of writing lies in **_**your**_** reviews. For now, at least, is some garbage to keep this on the update list.**_

_**The character of Kai Summers has many incarnations.**_

_**This is not a proper chapter.**_

_An entirely different reality._

'This is what he was talking about. You. What you are. This is what killed him.'

'_Correct.' _He laughs, a maniacal giggle._** '**__His own demons came in those seven days. Came and bit him in the ass.'_

'Who are you?'

'_You. Everything behind you. Every single nightmare, every single curse. I am your sin. I am those shadows in your soul.' _He grins. _'My oh my. What fun we're about to have.'_

'Hang on.'

'_What?'_

'Weren't you in a Twilight fanfic?'

'_What the…no. That's absurd.'_

'You were. I read it. Island of Tears by ZephyrNights. That was you.'

'_I…you…shut up. That is completely irrelevant.'_

'It was a Twilight fanfic, I'm sure. Kai Summers. That was you.'

'_Ok, fine. So I was originally in a story written by a guy with too much spare time. What's your point?'_

'Is Xanth your boyfriend?'

'_What the-? No. Now you're just being silly.'_

'And why do you want to kill all vampires? That didn't make any sense.'

'_Same reason I want to kill stuff in this story.'_

'Which is?'

'_Not saying.'_

'Oh, go on.

'_No, Renik, I'm not saying. It'll spoil the plot.'_

'Just a tiny clue?'

'_Look here, you silly bastard. You see that fourth wall over there? You've just destroyed it. Congratulations.'_

'Oh. Sorry.'

'_Hope and pray no-one ever reads both stories. It'll ruin us both.'_

'Ok.'

A pause.

'What's in the suitcases?'

'_Renik?'_

'Yes?'

'_Shut up.''_


	16. Heads

**I'm back. Please review.**

The party was fine. I'd thought that I wouldn't be able to go through he experience without at least torching someone's car in a fit of blistering tedium, but as it turned out, there was enough going on to be mildly interesting. People drank, danced, chatted in groups-at least for the five minutes before people got really wasted. The building was roomy, and I swear that the main living room had been converted into a miniature ballroom. I say main because there was more than one- the house contained so many rooms I doubt it would have been possible to explore all of them in a night. Not that I would. I knew all too well what kinds of things were going on behind locked doors as the night wore on. And somehow, every one of the five bathrooms in that little palace had someone emptying the contents of their stomach into the toilet.

It was at times like this that I realised how much I loved humans. Their quirks, their silly ideas. Why not hang out on the roof of the extension? Why not have sex in someone's bedroom? Why not get so drunk that you couldn't stand? The host has a pool- why not throw the fat guy in to see if he'll float? It's a scientific experiment, I was assured. I just laughed, and watched.

This was life, for them. What I always asked myself was why it would all end in seven years or so. They'd grow up, integrate themselves with the shackles of their society, and always pine after the days where they couldn't care less. For humans, life was cruel. I was glad that I had been spared that fate.

Someone cut their knee on a broken bottle. It wasn't fatal, or even very deep (it was sad that that was my mentality now. Is the wound going to kill her? No? Its fine. Man up.), but I saw the expression on Xanth's face when he caught a whiff of that blood. But he didn't move, he didn't flinch. He just stayed there, with a tolerance that was admirable. He could have astonishing self control when he wanted to.

After a few hours, the atmosphere got to me a little. I took a walk outside in the night air, sitting down on the steps, tilting my head back. The sound in that building was almost as intoxicating as alcohol. I just needed to take a look at the night sky to remind myself that I wasn't one of them. I was one of me, and me only. And the more I reminded myself, the better.

I didn't want to go back to a human life. A human life has a lot more than fun. A human life, I'd always thought, was simply about shoving as much shit between you and the fact that one day you'll die. You can say what you want, but the fact was there. Humans all go the same way.

What about me? I didn't think I'd die. Somehow, the powers that I now had would stop me from falling. I didn't know how I knew that. I just did.

As I closed my eyes, I heard a noise, coming from up the steps behind me. I stood swiftly, backing away into the shadows. A girl came out of the house, hair dishevelled, moving with a speed that suggested she wanted to get away from somebody. A boy followed her out. He wasn't tall, but he was muscular, with short hair, and a thick jaw. He also appeared to be incredibly drunk. And it wasn't nice drunk. It was pissed off drunk.

'Where're you goin'?' he slurred. The girl pushed him back, and he suddenly grabbed her arm, pulling her close. She struggled against his grip in vain.

'Let go, you creep.'

'Wha-?'

'I said we're finished. Now get the hell off me'

'You've already said that before, and we both know that ain't true. You'll come running back like the little desperate whore you are' The guy leered. I was impressed. I thought only I could leer like that.

'Let go of me!'

'I don't like being humiliated in front of my buddies,' he said, and he hit her. He rammed his fist into her jaw. She went down onto the gravel, crying. He reached out a hand, and pulled her upright. Above, I could see the guy's friends, just watching from the door. One looked as if he was enjoying the show.

Let me rephrase what I said. I love certain attributes of humans. This wasn't one of those.

I'm not a knight in shining armour. But I was bored, and this abusive creep had just given me an excuse for some fun, that I could potentially get away with. I reached into my pocket, withdrew a coin, and stepped out of the shadows.

'You a gambling man, shit-head?' I grinned. Oh, alright, I leered. He turned and looked at me with unfocused eyes. I heard one of his friends start laughing in anticipation.

'What did you call me?'

'Sirrah, I made the implication that naught lies atop thy neck than excrement, piled with little mind for artistry or intelligence' I flicked the coin once, caught it. 'Care to play with the mistress of Gods and man?'

'What…the…fuck?' I have never seen anybody so confused as he was. My grin widened.

'Chance. I want to play a little game of chance.' I took another step forward. 'You game?' I continued before he could answer. 'Heads, you walk away from this girl, and never pester her again. Tails, you can do what you like with her.'

The guy was looking at me now with something approaching understanding.

'Why? You after her too?'

'Nope. I just like betting. What do you say?'

'Yeah, whatever. But if you lose,' he turned to his friends, all of which were grinning. 'You're dead. I heard what you said, and you're dead.'

'Poetic potential, my good man. Don't give up on yourself so soon.' I put the coin on top of my fist, thumb underneath. 'Ready?'

'Sure'

'Heads.'

I flicked it into his eye. As he reeled backwards, I swiftly stepped forward, grabbed him by the neck, and raised him into the air. His eyes bulged with fear, and a gargled sound escaped his throat, which my fingers were firmly locked around. The nearest friend took a step forward, and I flicked open the pocket knife that I'd been carrying with me in my shirt sleeve.

'I wouldn't.' I grinned. 'Really, I wouldn't.'

'Kai!'

Xanth shoved past the group on the stairs. I rolled my eyes, dropped the guy onto the floor, and backed away from him. Xanth stepped up to me, furious.

'What do you think you're-'

I pointed to the girl. She was on her feet, the side of her face swelling. She was looking at me with a mixture of gratitude and fear. I could see tears welling in the corner of one eye where he had hit her.

'Ever heard of the game of concequences?'

Xanth just looked at me, and then to the guy on the floor. Then he delivered a kick to the figures crotch- the latter emitted a high pitched squeal and curled up, whimpering. Then, grinning, the vampire wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and swept me inside.

'You boys enjoy yourselves?'

Peter was busy on his laptop when we got back, his fingers flying over the keys. Quentin was lying on the couch, arms behind his head staring up at the ceiling. I moved round so that I could get a better view of the screen. I swear that at the speed he was typing, the thing would break soon. As it was, the keys were already a little worn.

'It was fine.'

'Good. Make out with anyone?'

'Everyone.' I said. Peter raised an eyebrow.

'You serious?'

'Nope.'

'Thank Christ. Don't want the Seattle kids getting traumatised.'

'Piss off.'

'Pete, weekdays are a no-no.' Quentin said. 'You've got no-one there on a weekday, except maybe a few guys doing drug business there.'

'It opens on Thursday and Friday.'

'These guys are at school. Can't bunk off. Any connections might be picked up on, and we don't want that. Not if they want to stay cosy.'

I put my hands on the back of Peter's chair. 'You guys want to tell us what's going on?'

'We have a lead.' Peter looked up at me, and his eyes were shining. 'There's a place, in the area of Seattle which is, how to put this nicely, a cess-pit.' He clicked on a tab, and Google street view appeared. The street currently in view looked pretty rough, and the building that Peter had focused on looked no better, with no windows, and a heavy iron door being the only visible means of access. 'It's a dive, which has the audacity to call itself a 'private club'. You need a reservation to get in. Depends on who you know, and what contacts you have'

'Warning bells should be going off already.' Quentin said. 'A place like that is either mob-related, or a crack house. Or something else.'

Xanth and I exchanged glances. He looked a little sceptical.

'What makes you so sure its something else?'

'Quentin, believe it or not, has people in the homeless network. You want information about things in this city, that's absolutely invaluable.'

'I'm impressed.' I scratched my head. I'd always thought that the idea of a 'network' in the local fourth world was the stuff of rumour and legend. Then again, I'd thought that about vampires, and look how wrong I'd been.

'So, we start hearing rumours about this place. How some people go in, namely addicts, and never leave.'

'Could be a great party.'

Quentin laughed humourlessly. 'Probably is. Just not for them.' He sat up. 'We also heard about a group of guys who visit every so often. According to the informant, they were some of the best looking people he'd seen. Tall, handsome, and really, really pale.'

'Jackpot.'

'Quite possibly. The owner is human, but then again, so was the Sponsor. Vampires can use humans when they don't want to appear on the Volturi's radar. And I think this is definitely worth checking out.'

I nodded, clapped my hands and straightened up.

'Alright. Lets do this.'

'Not yet,' Xanth said. 'We need to prepare in advance. We slip up, and we lose a valuable opportunity for obtaining any information.'

'How long?' I asked. Under my skin, I could feel the familiar itch returning, the desire to leap into action at the first sign of 'go.' But these things took time, and while there were few things I hated more than waiting, I appreciated the need for planning. Just so long as they did all that. I tended to follow my own guidelines if I could.

'About a week.'

'That's…fine. A week it is.'

A week. Seven days remained between me and my new quarry. I just sorely hoped it wouldn't all be for nothing.

**Review, receivers of this pitiful tale. Arrr.**


	17. Risen backward

Hi guys. Review, or Kai will be sad. And you won't like Kai, when he's sad. People tend to die. Seriously, review.

'Have you got a minute?'

Rose cornered me in the corridor on our way to our next lesson. It was two days since the party, and I have to admit, I was suffering. When we had plans, the seconds seem to hang in the air like leeches to a wound. Every lesson was a tedious eternity, every ring of the bell, an ear splitting forever. This place felt like a winding prison, a hellhole in which I was the only one conscious of being tortured. I'd tried taking to sleeping in class, but this place ripped the energy out of you, and replaced it with autopilot. And we'd even had homework. I forgot that school did that. It followed you home, attempted to work its way into every aspect of your life. Maybe I'd have handled it better were I human. But I was here on a hunting trip. And yet, to fit in, I had to go the whole hog. I had to be human.

Human sucked balls.

'I wanted to talk to you about something.' Rose was saying. She'd been pretty distant after our little talk on the bench. In fact, we hadn't spoken since. She'd just thanked me, despite my insistent dismissals that the saviour in the parking lot hadn't been me, and had drifted off to her friends. And her thanks had been genuine. I suppose that confused me. She was difficult to figure out, this girl. Most humans are more two dimensional than they'd like to believe. But Rose…

Rose had secrets. And whatever they were, whatever they could be, made me all the more interested in who exactly she was.

'Articulate.' I said. Most people would have been confused. She just shook her head.

'Not here. Can we go somewhere a bit more private?'

'Now?'

'After school. Just meet me outside, and I'll drive you there.

I cocked my head to one side, frowning.

'I'm not going to get an explanation, am I?'

'Nope. I figured you wouldn't be as interested otherwise.'

That was worrying. There were very few people who had me sussed like that. The only other one was Xanth.

Who was this girl?

'Fine. It's a date.'

'Really, no.' She smiled. 'Just no. I'm grateful for what you did. Not that grateful'

I laughed at that.

'Good. So, do I get a hint?'

'Sure.' I hadn't expected that. 'It's to do with an English assignment.'

'Elaborate.'

'We got it yesterday.'

I couldn't remember that. Like I said, autopilot. I just wrote the reminder down, without paying attention to what we actually had to do. Xanth had probably already done it. As if he gave a damn.

'Nope. Not ringing any bells.'

'Give it a look. You might be surprised.'

The bell rang. Without saying goodbye, Rose drifted off into the crowd. I just kept walking to my next lesson.

As I sat down at my seat, a figure slipped into the chair next to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that it was the girl from the party- the one who's boyfriend I had almost choked to death. The bruise on her face was barely concealed with makeup, but she looked a lot better than she did that night. Probably because she wasn't being harrowed by a guy who looked like a cave-troll. Always helped.

I didn't want her to express her gratitude. I just wanted to be ignored. Because she was thanking me for all the wrong reasons.

'Hey.' She said. I just looked at her, making sure not to look too long at the bruise on her face. When I didn't reply, she looked away.

'Thanks' she said. 'For helping me out with Grey.' A pause. 'He was being such an asshole.'

'Asshole doesn't cover it.' I muttered. Inwardly, I smiled as the look on the guy's face entered my mind. The bulging eyed terror as his feet lost contact with the ground. The sound of his breath gasping in ragged bursts.

'I guess. But thanks all the same. He won't bother me any more.'

'Thank you,' I said. She looked at me, confused.

'For what?'

_For giving me something to do._ I thought. Instead, I said 'For not saying that you owe me one. You don't.'

'I…Ok. Just…'

'What?'

'Watch out for him. He doesn't like being humiliated.'

_Oh good. An adversary. Something I can crush when life gets too boring._

Thankfully, the teacher entered before the dialogue could get any more stilted. As the droning began, I snuck a glance at my organiser, for the English homework that Rose had mentioned. As I read it, my eyebrows drew together in a frown.

_Research a myth or superstition that appeals to you- five-page essay, fortnight deadline. Give examples of active research. Group work accepted._

Well. That was different. I sat back, and closed my eyes. Hell, I didn't even know what lesson this was, except that I was supposed to be in it. Any question fired at me with the assumption that I wasn't paying attention was answered correctly- but I had no idea what the questions were, just that my subconscious was doing a damn good job answering them. But my mind, however, was focused on different matters entirely.

_Rose. What's going on?_

--

Xanth met me outside at the end of school, and we walked to the parking lot together. His fan-club had apparently deserted him for one brief second- possibly due to my appearance. They apparently preferred it when he was alone. I was just irritating baggage.

'You off somewhere?' he asked. I could just about see Rose at the far end of the car park, arms folded as she lend against her vehicle, a blue Fiat, apparently in conversation with a friend.

'Perceptive.' I replied. 'How'd you guess?'

He shrugged. 'A slight eagerness. Can't be excited about heading back home, because there isn't anything to do. Ego, you have some other destination in mind.'

'Fair play.'

'Where're you going?'

'I don't know.' I admitted. 'Rose invited me to go with her someplace. Something about the English assignment.'

'You are dedicated.' He smirked. I elbowed him.

'Piss off.'

'As you wish. You have Purgatory with you?'

The handgun was tucked into my deep pocket. It was already loaded. It may have seemed a bit unnecessary bringing the thing with me every day, but there was no harm in staying safe. Just in case we were found out, and had to make a run for it when the fangs started to fly.

'Of course.'

'Good. Watch yourself. Mummy wants you back in time for tea, so don't stay out late.' His voice took on the accent of an upper-class twit.

'Yes, brother.'

'And no touching these girlies. You don't know where they've been.' His face remained deadpan. I sniggered.

'You scare me Xanth.'

'Someone has to. And it's Lucas, remember?' He winked, and strode off. Looking round, I saw a group of girls watching him move away, then begin to follow. I rolled my eyes, and set off towards Rose. Her friend took a glance at me, then asked her an unheard question. She just smiled.

'How long is this going to take?' I asked as I neared. The friend gave a hurried goodbye, and sidled away. Rose shook her hair out of her eyes.

'Hello to you too.'

'Answer the question.'

'An undetermined amount of time.' She moved round to the other side, pulled open the door, and slipped into the drivers seat. I sighed, and got in next to her.

'Nice car.' I said, keeping my voice level. She smirked.

'You British. I never know whether you're being genuine or not.'

'I'm not.'

'Didn't think so.' She turned on the engine, and slowly pulled out of the parking space. Then, inching past the other students, we drew away from the school, leaving it in our rear view mirror. The traffic was substantial on the road, but the Fiat soon slipped away from the main line of cars, and joined another quieter road. Without taking her eyes from the road, Rose pressed a button on the CD player, and some unrecognisable indie band came on. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her mouth silently mirroring the lyrics.

'Nice music.' I said. She smiled sweetly.

'Kai?'

'Hmm?'

'Fuck off.'

''Kay.'

The road took us out of the city. About an hour and a half later, we were driving on a road that was walled by trees and forest. I frowned to myself, as I watched the branches and shadows flash past the window.

'You going to tell me where we're going?'

'In there.' She gestured with her hand in a roundabout sort of way. 'The forest.'

'Anywhere specific?'

'Somewhere quiet.' She turned off onto what looked worryingly like a dirt track. The car bumped over the potholes in the road, jostling us both. I was beginning to get annoyed, partly at her refusal to tell me what was going on, and partly because I was ashamed at myself for wanting to find out so much. After about a minute, she parked up on the left, and ,without so much as a word, opened the door and exited the vehicle. After a moment, I followed her.

'Rose.'

She didn't answer, just carried on into the wood. I strode to catch up with her. She didn't appear to be following any visible path, just moving onwards into the shadows. I knew this had little to do with our homework being on time, so I just shut up, and followed.

She stopped abruptly, and I almost walked into the back of her. She held up a hand, motioning for us both to be silent. The air was still, quiet. No wind moving through the trees, no sounds of birdsong. We were alone. I walked around her, taking in the scenery. Just trees, and leaves. The sunlight was successfully breaking through the trees above; it was surprisingly light here. She started moving again, heading towards a thick looking tree, with a low hanging limb at just the height for someone to comfortably sit upon.

'You know, my mom tried to bring me up Catholic.' She swung herself onto the limb, watching me for a reaction. I didn't give her one. 'Didn't work. None of it did. Stopped believing in God. Still don't.'

I decided to just let her talk. Whatever reason she had brought me here, it wasn't going to reveal itself instantly. And I had the feeling that what she was saying was important. That this was something she didn't talk about often, if ever.

'You look at the world, and you're expected to think that there's an all loving sky-daddy, who will save you from death if you do what he says.' She shook her head. 'I can't see it somehow. God. Whatever his plan is, I've never wanted a part in it. 'Course, few people don't like me because of that.' She glanced up at me. 'How about you?'

I smiled. 'If there is a God, I've always said, I'd like to meet him.'

'Why?'

'So I could kill him.'

Her eyes widened briefly. I think that was the first time that I truly got a reaction out of her.

But then the calm visage was back almost immediately.

'You're crazy.'

'Yes. I am. But so are you.'

'How so?'

'We're in the middle of a bloody forest.'

'Fair play.' She shrugged. 'God is ridiculous. I can't conceive of such an entity existing.' Then her eyes locked on to mine. 'The other stuff, however, is a different story.'

I met her gaze. 'Other stuff?'

'Superstition. Not just Biblical. All the worlds' secrets, all the things that human arrogance has just slipped over, and not seen. For example, I believe in angels.'

I raised an eyebrow. 'Angels?'

'Yep. Angels.' She swung her legs, still watching me. I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. 'What do you know about angels Kai?'

'Depends on how you interpret the word 'angel.'' I chewed my tongue, unable to take my eyes from hers. What was she after? What the hell were we doing here?

'They have wings.' I said at length. 'And they protect people. Or act as messengers. And their intentions are always on the side of…well…good, I suppose.' I shrugged sheepishly. 'My angel knowledge isn't exactly wonderful, I must confess.'

'And what happens when an angel falls?'

'Then it…'

I stopped mid sentence. Watched her. Ever so slowly, my fist clenched, nails biting into my palm. And I suddenly felt sick.

'I also believe in vampires, werewolves. Pretty much all the stories in one way or another.'

She carried on before I had a chance to say anything, before I could think properly. I shook the ensuing thoughts out of my head, and shrugged.

'Fine. Where is your proof?'

'Proof? I'm the proof, Kai.'

'What?'

She jumped down from the branch, and came up to me. Then she said two words, two innocent little words that almost made me scream. Two words which made me almost turn and flee, ripping the forest to shreds as I went. As it was, I just stood there, paralysed, and heard her say those two words.

'Kiss me.'

And she didn't wait for a reply. She stood on tiptoes, her hands went round my neck, and she kissed me on the lips. And as she did so, something happened.

_It's me. I'm changing the world._

_Whose world Kai?_

I pushed her off, and fell to my knees, images and sights rushing through my head. I saw a sky, saw a dark comet descend from it, screaming towards the ground. And I saw her face, watching it.

Like it was all part of the plan.

Through the haze, I realised, with horror, that the shadows pouring from my fingers meant that I was in Shift. And as I looked up at her, I realised something different about her. She seemed to be radiating a glow, a white aura that encompassed her, drawing the sunlight about her like a veil. And I saw her glowing face smile, before the shadows took over, and I slipped away into the dark.

_What are you, Kai Summers? What the hell are you?_

**As always, please review.**


	18. The First Meeting of Few

My eyes opened. Not very far, and not very quickly, but they opened nonetheless. My thoughts pushed their way free of sleep like a fist through tar. My head ached. Everything ached. The wind stung my cheeks, and the sensation of lying between ground and air felt like I was being partially compressed. The sky was still light enough to see by, and the blonde face, gazing down with blurred concern, was just about visible through the haze of pain. I swallowed, attempting to say something, as I saw it glance through the bushes to something in the forest.

'Xanth?' I choked.

No. Not Xanthir. This vampire was slighter, his hair curlier. And, as my vision solidified, I saw that his eyes were golden. I made some attempt to reach for my pistol. The only movement I was rewarded with was a slight twitch of my hand.

When the vampire spoke, I heard the southern accent in his voice, as he spoke to someone out of view.

'He's awake, Alice. I'm not sure how well he is, but he's awake.'

A new voice. Female, quite high. It reminded me a little of Chloe's. Another figure swam into view- a girl, short with spiky hair, wearing a dark jacket and jeans. Her eyes were golden too.

'Who's Xanth?' she asked. I felt the strength return to my limbs a little. For some reason, I didn't feel as crap as I would have expected. The embarrassment that I thought would have appeared had gone, to be replaced with a sense of calm. I glanced at the blonde vampire, watching me intently.

Oh no you don't.

I was on my feet in a second, all fatigue suddenly expelled from my body. My face was now inches away from the male bloodsucker, his eyes widening in surprise as he stepped back.

'Boo.' I said, then laughed. My laughter was cut short abruptly by the sudden wave of nausea that erupted in my brain. I coughed, and a trickle of something dark slid fro the corner of my mouth. I instantly saw both their eyes lock onto it, and sighed.

'You mess with my emotions again, and I'll hurt you. Understand?'

'That's gratitude for you, Jaspar.' The vampire called Alice was already in a fighting stance, a semi crouch alongside the blonde one. He blinked, and my emotions returned to the familiar sense of perpetual amusement and-

Jesus. That came out of the blue. Perhaps I was so used to having my emotions as they were but…

Where did all that hatred come from?

'Right. I am going home.' I said. I blinked as another wave of pain flooded through my body, and my knees nearly gave way, not from tiredness, but from disorientation. The blonde vampire grabbed my arm as my legs buckled, keeping me upright.

'Not yet you're not. You aren't in a fit state to do anything.'

'I'm in a fit enough state to kill you, sir. Touch me again, and I might do just that.'

He let go abruptly. I gave another cough. The female relaxed a little, eyes wide as she gazed at me.

'What is he, Jaspar? He's not a hybrid, we'd be able to tell.'

'A hybrid?' I asked. Then recognition hit me like a plank to the face. The clearing, the volturi, the defiant opposition, standing round the child in the centre. The groups of vampires that had been brought there by one 'vegetarian' family. So many humans in Washington had died because of them.

And these two. They had stopped the bloodshed. They had brought along proof that other hybrids existed. They had been the ones that had stopped me from taking out the other covens, because they had rendered them some kind of perverted 'justice' for what they had done.

And yet they were still protected by vampire law.

I almost did it. I almost went into Shift. But that last thought held me back. I couldn't kill these two yet. I couldn't compromise the relationship with the volturi. I had to abstain.

But it killed me to do it.

'Who are you?' the one called Jaspar asked. I clenched my fists, let out a long breath. Then I leered.

'You know, I couldn't tell you that. Maybe, someday, when I find out, then I will. But for now, I'll tell you this.

'You will pay for what you've done.'

I spat blood into the bushes. I saw Jaspars eyes flick to the drop, just for an instant. But in that instant, I was gone.


	19. Supplies

**Ok, some exposition, for anyone wondering how Kai can actually kill vampires. Hope it's entertaining enough**

'You going to tell me what happened?'

I sighed angrily. 'I wish I could tell you. But I'm not sure I understand myself.'

Xanth and I were seated opposite one another by the window of the diner. Our car was parked outside, and we had a good view of the roadside, trucks and lorries thundering past outside. I couldn't help noticing the windows rattling ever so slightly as the larger ones hurtled onwards, sending their invisible waves of oily smog into the air. The table we were occupying had an unpleasant sheen to it, and the whole place smelled a little of disinfectant. I hadn't seen any signs of service, and the only indication that anyone worked here at all were the sounds of clattering from the unseen kitchen, and the occasional obnoxious shout.

'How long is he going to be?' I muttered. Xanth's eyes flicked to the road and back, a little restless.

'Could be any time now.'

'He's one for being fashionably late.' I rubbed my head irritably. 'I hate waiting.'

'Well, that's no secret.' Xanth sat back and watched me. I squirmed uncomfortably. 'How about we spend the time speculating on what the hell happened yesterday?'

'Why do you think I'm keeping anything from you?' I asked him. A little more angrily than I would have liked. He paused. Watched me.

'Because I think, Kai Summers, that your pride has been more than a little hurt.'

He was right, and I hated it. I hated not knowing. The collapse, the pain, I could deal with afterwards. But the obscurity behind it all was drilling a hole in my skull. Something awful had happened to me. Something dangerous. And I didn't have a clue as to what it could be.

Rose was gone. I'd tried to find her, of course, but she had simply vanished. I'd contacted the school, tried unsuccessfully to employ subtlety in finding out where she lived. They couldn't tell me. I talked to anybody that could be considered a friend. To my increasing confusion, none of them had any idea of whereabouts in Seattle her house could be. And as to where she was now…

She'd disappeared into the ether.

'You think she's working for Dolovich's lot?' I asked. 'Whatever that was, it may have been her efforts to kill me.'

'Didn't work, did it?' Xanth smirked. I shrugged.

'When do they ever?'

'No. She's human.' I saw his face change, darkening slightly. 'She's complicated, but she's human.'

I tried to ignore the look in his eyes when he said that. I think I knew what he was implying, and I knew he was wrong. She'd only sought me out. She tried speaking to me alone. She'd tried to change me. She wasn't a vampire, certainly. But 'human, with complications' was something that gave away the result of turning gears within his head.

'You think that she's…another one?'

'It's possible. Kai, she could be your-'

'She isn't'

'How do you know?'

'I just do.' I couldn't explain how I knew. I just did. 'Trust me. I have a feeling I'd know.'

He was silent for a time. Then he nodded slowly.

'Fine. But she could be the missing link.'

And I had to agree with him. The incident had left me bewildered, confused, even, if I dare say it aloud, scared. She'd done something. It hadn't been an accident. She knew what she was doing. Her face had shown no fear, no surprise. As if it was all simply part of the plan

'We find her after this.' I said. Xanth cocked his head to one side.

'Sure? She might kiss you again.'

'Piss off.' I smirked, and then looked at him again. His expression was, as always, difficult to read. But if I didn't know better, I would say that the emotion behind his eyes was one of doubtful concern.

'We didn't expect anything like this.'

'Leave it. One thing at a time. I'll sort this out.' Some part of me snorted at myself with derision. I wouldn't be able to leave anything of this magnitude. A mystery of this level of intrigue would be raging around in my thoughts until it was resolved. I just had to make sure that it didn't get in the way of business.

Speaking of which…

I glanced out into the diner parking lot, noticing the black SUV, stopped a little way from the other cars. It was shiny, unmarked by any sort of dirt or rust, as though brand new. The windows weren't tinted, but the interior seemed so dark that it was impossible to make out any detail inside. And I wouldn't need to- the driver had gotten out, and was now leaning against the side of his vehicle, face in shadow beneath a sizeable brimmed hat. He wore a long coat, a strange design- it seemed as though it had been bolted to his torso, the dark material stretched taut around his chest. He waved a single gloved hand as I watched, a rather effeminate gesture, before moving round to the back of the truck.

'He's here.' I said. Xanth chewed his tongue, keeping his eyes on the SUV.

'He's going to be annoyed.'

'You think he knows?' I asked. He nodded.

'Yes. He's been keeping tabs on the Volturi for a long time.'

'Dangerous business.' I watched the man reappear, now with two cases, one is each hand. He glided towards the door, and I heard it open with a swish. I twisted in my seat, watching him walk over to our table, pulling up a chair. He placed the cases on the floor, one atop the other, then took off his hat and dropped it onto them. His face had something of the Orient about it, good looking, in his fifties, goatee just showing slivers of silver. His accent, however, was British.

'Boys, boys. What a drive.'

'You can thank us for the obligatory American holiday.'

I drew back as he leant his elbows on the table, procuring a cigarette from seemingly out of the air. He held up his hands, clicking his fingers. A flame blossomed into being, and he took a long drag, before blowing smoke into the air. After a long silence, he spoke.

'This surprises me, you know. Most Vampire hunters wouldn't have used half of that last supply.'

'We aren't most vampire hunters.'

'I know that now.' He looked up at me, jabbing a finger. 'You. Figured out what the hell you are yet?'

'I'm working on it.' I smiled. He nodded.

'Good lad.' He pointed to the cases. 'Judging from how quickly you squandered the last batch, I'm hoping this one should last you a month. Unless you empty it into a wall for half an hour.'

'What have we got?' Xanth asked. The man didn't even pause to think.

'Twice as many rounds as last time, nine vials of Torturevein, seven Hallow Discs, and a couple of bottles of Trace.

'Its like Christmas come early.' I grinned. 'Is that everything?'

'Not quite.' The man pointed to his gloves. 'See these? Flame generating. Damn good for a smoke. And for other things…' He chuckled again. 'I've left two pairs in one case, although I'm not sure the bloodsucker should be wearing them.'

Xanth shrugged. 'I've handled that blade of yours just fine. I doubt gloves will be any worse.'

'It's your funeral.' The man sat back. 'How're you paying for this?'

'Volturi funds.' Xanth reached inside a pocket, dropping a block of bills onto the table with a smack. No-one was around- they might have gotten the wrong impression if they had seen us.

Our supplier picked up the wadge, flicking through it. After a few seconds, his eyes darted up to us.

'There's twice the amount here that needs be.'

'They don't need to know that.'

The man grinned. 'Trying to bankrupt them are we?'

'Its for a worthy cause.'

'Even so. Do I really want Volturi money?' The smile vanished. 'These are the rulers of my enemy. God knows how they've acquired their wealth.' He paused. 'I'm not exactly thinking of good, honest, hard work.'

'You're using their money to kill vampires, Samuel. Do I have to put it more bluntly?'

'True. But it's for their gain. In a way'

'You don't like this?'

'No.' He paused. 'But, on saying that, there's a lot of necessary things that I don't like.'

We were silent for a time. Traffic thundered past. The windows shuddered. Eventually Samuel rose.

'Listen. Dolovich has been taken care of. What you're doing here…well, it's a loose end, isn't it?'

'Meaning?'

'Ask yourself, Xanthir. Is this really necessary?'

'Coming from a vampire hunter?' I shook my head, bewildered. 'Did I seriously just hear that?'

His cheeks coloured a little. 'What?'

'You once said you and you allies would kill for an opportunity like this. We have a lead. We have a plan.' I leered. 'What do you have?'

'A distrust of the Volturi.' The man sighed. 'Of course I do. I'm worried that they are using you.'

Xanth shook his head.

'They know what would happen to them if we realised that was the case. We proved that at the interview.'

'Ah yes. So I heard.' Despite himself, Samuel smiled. 'One of our number was watching you two that day. Said he heard explosions coming from the Volturi stronghold.'

'We're not good with the subtle approach.'

'And they know that.' The man's face clouded once more, but before he could talk, a waitress came over, pad of paper in hand. She was quite plump, which is a kinder way of saying that she was fat. Her hair was tied into a ponytail behind her. Her voice was nasal and annoying, but I refrained from telling her that because I wasn't in the mood. We ordered three beers and a bowl of chips- as I watched her go, I nudged our supplier.

'I think she liked you.'

'Eh?'

'This place is no smoking. She didn't tell you to put out that cigarette.'

'Maybe she's just naïve.' He raised an eyebrow. I sat back, watching him.

'Like us?'

'You demonstrated your power to the Volturi. They fear that for sure. And what they fear, they destroy.'

'A trap?' I shook my head. 'The Volturi are scared, but they aren't stupid. They're paranoid of any risk to their order. Setting a trap for us…'

'…would be a very big risk.' Xanth finished. He gestured to me. 'Especially as far as Kai is concerned.'

'Aw, sweetheart. You flatter me, truly.'

'It depends.' Samuel scratched at his beard. Looking at it, I thought of the encounter with Rose, and her kissing me. Some part of me laughed- whatever she had done, it couldn't have been good for her. I hadn't shaved in a fortnight.

'They know your weakness, Xanthir. It's difficult to exploit, but you are, like it or not, one of their kind. In terms of physicality at least. As for you,' He pointed at me with his cigarette, 'You might have shown them something that they can use to their advantage.'

'Like what?' I smirked. He looked thoughtful for a moment. I shook my head. 'Listen. I'm not overconfident. I just know what I can do. And as far as vampires are concerned, well…'

He nodded slowly. 'Very well. You two take care of yourselves. I owe you a great deal.'

'We'll keep the calls coming. The Volturi's every move is yours to know.' Xanth folded his arms, checking his watch. 'We'll eat, then part. Where will you be?'

Samuel shrugged. 'Around. If you need supplies, call me.' He wrinkled his nose. 'I think we'll change the rendezvous point. This feels a little exposed.'

'And cheap.'

He raised his gloved hands and slender fingers in mock surrender. 'I'm a man of luxury.'

Twenty minutes and a bowl of fries later, and we parted ways. Samuel's truck sped away down the highway. We waited five minutes, then got in the car, drove out of the parking lot, and began our hour long drive back to Seattle.

'He's looking well.' I said. Xanth nodded.

'Paranoid as ever.'

'Naturally. He's fighting creatures that could kill with a twitch. And doing a surprisingly good job.' I wished I didn't possess so much respect for him. He was, after all, just another vampire hunter, with just another vengeful reason to fight. From the scraps of story I had worked out of him in the few times we had met, I had discovered that he was orphaned by bloodsuckers in his teens, and that, since working with the hunting group that had taken him in, he had personally slain around fifteen vampires, five of which had been single-handedly.

Of course, that wasn't a patch on us. Our kill list reached the fifty mark, achieving in the space of a year what he couldn't hope to do in a lifetime. But he was human, and one couldn't help but admire his efforts. If he turned his attentions to any other, more human orientated killing, then he could easily rise into the ranks of the world's most lethal men. And, when one thought of it that way, so could every other member of Lovesburst.

Lovesburst Royale was the hunting group that Samuel was affiliated with. A small team, of around thirty men and women- but the pioneers of slaying technology, containing some of the most brilliant minds of the century. I didn't know much about them, but from what I had heard from Samuel, and the few morsels of information that Xanth had aquired over the years, the story of Lovesburst's origins were most intriguing.

'They were founded in the early fifties by a German-Jewish scientist' Xanth had told me, after our first meeting with Samuel all those months ago. 'Wolf Loveburst been working confidentially, developing weapons for the Nazi's before it all went to hell, and he had to flee.'

'Working for the Nazi's?' The story had started to sound far-fetched already. But, even back then, I had developed an acceptance of far-fetched. Matter of having to.

'He was tolerated because of how brilliant he was.' Xanth had said. 'During that period, his overseers had a conundrum. One the one hand, Loveburst was a genius. He'd worked on developing nerve agents, vehicles, designs that were so ahead of their time, that they rivalled the thought processes of Da Vinci. And on the other hand…'

'Yeah.'

'After a change in authority among his overseers, Lovesburst was forced to flee. Faked his own death, and crossed over into Switzerland, where he believed he was safe. Among the Nazi's, his name vanished, his existing work attributed to a variety of other people, the unfinished ideas discarded and burned. But he survived. And he still had his baby.'

'Baby?'

'He called it the Silver Bullet.' Xanth had even shown a little fear at the very mention of it. That had surprised me. 'A compound that could…well, for want of another term, it could set fire to blood. Created a chain reaction around the body- something in the blood would ignite, spreading through every artery, every vein. On the outside, there is no apparent flame- but this design could kill provided it pierced the skin. Wherever there was blood, there was fire. An astonishingly lethal concept, when one thinks about it.

'Now, Lovesburst spent around a decade working on this formula, and a method of dispersing it. He resented the Nazi's, of course, and so developing the Silver Bullet seemed like an obvious direction to go in for the purposes of revenge. Even after the Second World War ended, he carried on with his project. Some say that he didn't believe the reports- he still believed that Hitler was alive, and in hiding. And one day, he got the opportunity to test it.

'He was living in an alpine village for that decade, still in hiding. One day, Lovesburst caught a man attempting to burgle his house. The thief wouldn't go down without a fight, so Lovesburst shot him with the pistol that, in his paranoia, he kept under his pillow. He had loaded the compound in its bullet form, and the projectile hit the man in the abdomen. To Lovesburst's dismay, he survived.

'While the man had suffered from a bullet wound, and had lost a lot of blood, he hadn't internally ignited as Lovesburst had been expecting. The scientist visited the man in hospital afterwards- he told him that he was very disappointed in him, and that things didn't go as expected.'

'Weirdo.' I said. Xanth laughed.

'Indeed. He was a little eccentric. Many great minds are.' Xanth leaned forward. 'But here's the interesting part. A fortnight later, Loveburst wakes up. He can hear screaming from outside, so, pulling on his coat, he runs downstairs and into the darkness outside. He had his gun with him. And the results are, shall we say, spectacular.'

'Meaning?'

'That night, the village was attacked by three vampires. The place was secluded, so they didn't employ any subtlety. They just marched right in and started killing.'

'Jesus.'

'One came after Lovesburst. Apparently, he was walking. Being the sadistic bastard he was, this vampire wanted to see the look on his victims face before he killed him. Lovesburst had seen him dismember a woman a few seconds ago, so, as you can imagine, he was more than a bit scared. But he didn't know what vampires were. So he did the instinctive thing. He pulled out his gun, and shot the creep.

'And it worked. The vampire was dead before he hit the floor. The compound had ignited something inside, something unknown. And it had killed Loveburst's foe astonishingly quickly.'

'From then on, he became obsessed with the vampire legends. His first ally was the thief that had robbed him only two weeks ago. They were the first members of the group that they called Nebel der Toten- and although Lovesburst never actually killed another vampire, he gained a great many followers thanks to his intelligence and charisma. After his death, the name was changed to Lovesburst Royale, and they've been hunting ever since.'

I had turned the gun around in my hands, the night I had received it from Samuel. Marvelled at the shape, the feel of it in my hands. It was light, but still substantial. It fitted my hand almost perfectly.

'You going to think up a name for it?' Xanth had asked. I shrugged.

'I'll come up with something' I had said.

A week later, and I named it Purgatory.

**Comments appreciated. Please review!**


	20. Countdown

**Long chapter for me. Pretty action packed. Enjoy.**

'So. The plan.'

The four of us were sitting in the living room, plans, sketches, and the laptop laid out in disarray across the surface of the table. Peter and Quentin had pulled the couch up, and now sat side by side, the former sifting through the mess of paper in agitation, the latter leaning back comfortably, staring at the ceiling. Xanth had Samuel's case open on his knees, and was fiddling with some vial of liquid, while I watched the other two, absentmindedly scratching any traces of dirt, or anything that could cause the weapon to jam, from the interior with my knife. I would, after all, need it in less than two hours.

'First things first. Getting you boys in.' Peter drew out another diagram, holding it up for us both to see. 'From what we found out, the doors open straight into a kind of dance hall. The main entrance is really the only subtle way in- the windows have all got a layer of brick behind them, and it doesn't look like there are any skylights or vents that allow access from the open air. The foundations indicate a kind of cellar or basement, but there's only one way into that, look, in the interior of the building, from one of the back rooms.'

I looked at where his finger was pointing on the plan. 'That's where, I'm guessing, the vamps blood supply is kept?'

'Probably. The back rooms, from the look of things, are set up to be places where people can buy weed, or other such lovely things.'

'Not just drugs.' Quentin muttered. I didn't quite catch the next word, but it sounded a lot like 'hooker'. I nodded.

'We'll be careful.'

'Definitely do. There will be people who manage these rooms- the guys that pick out a few unlucky addicts to be sent down into the club larder.' He eyed us nervously. 'I don't know what you do to humans in circumstances like these.'

'If they pull a weapon, we kill them.' I shrugged. 'If not, we send them running.'

'Fair enough.' Peter nodded, a little uncomfortable, but eager to continue. 'To get in, use the main door. Quentin has ID for both of you.' He glanced over at his partner. 'I'm not sure I know how he managed that.'

'You don't want to.' Quentin grinned, still leaning back, staring at the ceiling. I nodded.

'Once in?'

'The dance floor is in the middle. To the left is a bar- bare that in mind when the bullets start flying. You might want something to duck behind.'

'Oh please. I dodge.'

'Yes. Well, its your funeral.' Peter pointed at a rather blurred photograph. 'Past the dance floor are two sets of stairs, that wind up to a balcony at the top, overlooking the action below.' His finger traced up. 'That's where the more important people will be- possibly the owner himself. Once you're in, forget about subtlety. Get up there before the guy or any other source can escape, and bring him out, kicking and screaming. If you can't, for some reason, interrogate him there.'

'And if the vampires show up?'

'Then abduct one of them, if you can. You have the vials. I don't know this man Samuel, but his expertise has been invaluable to you two so far. Hopefully it shouldn't fail you now.'

'And one of us will stay behind to mop up?'

'Yes. Free anybody you see in the cellar. Check every room for evidence.'

'Got it.' I nodded, realising how surprisingly simple this all sounded. I bet that most of the paperwork and planning had been for naught.

'One other thing.' Peter continued. 'You're going to have to run it there. Any witnesses will be instantly suspicious if you park a car nearby. The place is well known for…' He laughed softly 'Well, for people who specialise in reliving you of said car. Arriving in that striped monstrosity you have outside will be asking for trouble.'

'Noted. And we rarely drive to gigs anyway. It's harder to disappear with a licence plate on your backside.' I slid my gun closed, aimed it with one hand at the light, and pulled the trigger. There was a satisfying click- or at least, as satisfying as the sound of an empty gun could be. I took out a clip, pushed it in, then tucked my weapon into the inside pocket of my coat. Peter looked at me, shaking his head in exasperation.

'Do you ever put that thing on safety?' he asked. I shook my head.

'Last time I checked, it didn't have one.'

'Seriously?'

'It was made for humans to kill vampires with. Usually there isn't time to fiddle.'

'Just make sure its not pointed at us.' Peter checked his watch. 'Right. Well I suppose this is it.'

We all rose simultaneously, standing awkwardly there for a moment. It's surprising how people changed just before an important event. Suddenly, companionship seemed a long way away. I wondered how these two would be when we got back after our little outing. I wondered if it was all going to work out. And then again, I wondered if I cared.

'Well. Take care of yourselves.'

That was it. We left the house, walking out into the dusk outside. The light was fading to an orange that seemed surprisingly cold. I thought I felt rain begin to patter on my scalp.

'Xanth.' I asked him as we walked. 'What do you think is going to happen?'

'It's been quite a week, hasn't it?' I thought I saw him smile. 'You're still hung up about R-'

'Don't. We have other things to focus on.' I breathed in the dampening air. 'You know, there really is something here. You know what I mean?'

'Do you?'

'I'm not really sure. Maybe that's what it is. For the first time since…well, since I _matured_ into this.' I raised a hand. 'I'm not filled with the same confidence that I had before. For the first time, it's like I'm not sure if I'm on the winning side.'

'I never have been sure since you appeared.'

'What does that feel like?'

He paused thinking for a moment. Then- 'Pretty exciting.'

I nodded. 'Yeah. I think you're right.'

'Shall we go?' he asked. I shrugged.

'If you can keep up.'

I took off into the evening light. He kept pace with me, and as I glanced over, I could have sworn that he was laughing.

/

'This one?'

As we neared the building, I scanned the floor above. Nothing. The windows were either bricked in or sealed in some other manner. No other lookout points elsewhere. It wasn't that I was paranoid about being watched. I knew we were. I just wanted to know how many people they had on guard aside from the two 'bums' with surprisingly nice shoes we'd seen getting here. Whoever these guys were, they were almost as tight as we were.

It was dark now, the streetlights in this place positioned far apart, casting spots of sickly yellow onto the pavement. I had expected the place to have a neon sign or something, but they appeared to have settled with a more traditional idea of a swinging placard above the door. It seemed almost comically inappropriate. We certainly weren't going for a pub lunch.

Although, as far as the vamps were concerned, that's exactly what this place was. Well, at least they had a sense of humour.

There wasn't anybody on the door. Probably because the door was a sizeable metal affair that looked as though it had been forcibly removed from a military submarine. No need for a bouncer outside. As we approached, I spotted a buzzer on the left hand side. I exchanged a look with Xanth. He shrugged, one arm carrying a heavy, long case.

'Ready when you are.'

I pushed the button. I pushed it hard, and it crunched under my finger, something inside breaking. I felt that little act of vandalism was at least some kind of achievement. After a moments pause, a slide opened in the door, and set of eyes, surrounded by discoloured skin, peered out at us. I wasn't sure what skin colour the owner of the eyes had, but it sure as hell looked a mixture of purple and yellow.

'Boys. I.D.'

A poet in the making. We took out our passes. I tried not to leer. After a moments pause, the door opened on heavy hinges, and the man stepped to the side, watching us warily. The lack of door hadn't improved his looks. I thought that vampires, with their reasonable intelligence, would have put someone other than a bucktoothed martian as their doorman. Obviously not.

'Alright. Guess you guys can come in.' Past him, I could see a few steps up to an unseen area beyond. Music came thumping through the floor, and I could see lights filtering down from above. A step more, and I'd be able to see the main hall.

As we walked in, the doorman put a hand on Xanth's shoulder. He pointed to the case in the vampire's hand.

'Whoa, wait a minute, dude. What's in that?'

Xanth gave a small grin.

'What do you think?'

The doorman paused for a moment. Then he grinned too. I think I saw a pupil dilate.

'Ah, I got you buddy. In you go. The guys are in the back.'

We were in, the door closing with a heavy thud. We swept on up the steps, the lights and music filling my senses. I glanced at Xanth. He blinked.

Before us was a dance floor, and it was surprisingly full. I looked around, but the throng of people was thick, and it was difficult to see anything through the patterns of lights and shadows. The air was thick with smoke. To our left was the bar, a rather small affair, with pink lighting, just visible through the people.

I nudged Xanth, and gestured with my head to the balcony above. It lined the entire back wall, with two staircases snaking up to meet it, like some bizarre parody of a mansion hall. Xanth beckoned me closer, putting his mouth to my ear.

'We have a problem' he yelled. He was barely audible above the music. I nodded.

'Well, lets make the problem panic,'

'You sure?'

'We have to get these people out of here.' I scanned the steps. Two guys on each one. I was going to have to make this obvious. So much for subtlety.

'Get to the centre of the floor, Kai. I'll be in the crowd.'

We separated. I pushed my way through the people, making a beeline for the middle of the floor. This particular section was lit from below, and the faces of the dancers appeared strangely skeletal. As I stepped into the centre, I looked directly up at the balcony, and gave a low, incredibly melodramatic bow.

Out of the corners of my eye, I saw people gesturing. Probably laughing. I stayed frozen for a few moments, hand slowly closing on the grip of my pistol.

'What the fuck is this guy doi-'

The sound of Purgatory's roar drowned out the music. I had reared, pointing my gun at the ceiling, and shot out a light, glass raining down around me. The ensuing screams of the surrounding people were evidence of the desired effect. The crowd shifted, streaming away towards the walls like a shoal of terrified fish. I cleared my throat.

'Ladies and-'

I stopped, frowning. The music was still playing. I located the speakers, put a bullet in them, and tried again.

'Ladies and gentlemen! This concludes the party. Fire escape doors are available for those wishing to live. Please exit in a manner that is safe and mature' I leered. It had to be done. 'For those wishing to-'

A bullet collided with the floor beside me, spraying glass. I'd sidestepped it almost absentmindedly, now realising that I was entirely isolated in the middle of the room. The man who'd pulled his weapon suddenly fell to the ground, blood gushing from his eyes. Xanth walked from behind him, wiping his hand on his jeans, as the rest of the goons opened fire. I ducked, twisted, dancing around the hail of metal, guided by instinct . I heard the burst of an automatic, and dived to one side, rolling, and coming up firing. The man with the sub-machine gun flew backwards into the wall, his partner on the stair hit in the head, crumpling instantly. On the opposite staircase, Xanth had apparently finished off the two guards, one of which was hanging over the railing, looking partially melted. More guys descending the stairs- the lights came on suddenly, making everything visible. Xanth jumped, clearing the gap between staircases, and bringing his box round into the nearest goons' face, breaking his neck. He swung back around, lifting a man off the stairs and onto the floor below in a hail of glass. More bullets- I lifted my gun and shot them out of the air, walking forward to the new batch of armed idiots. I suddenly sprinted, jumped, clearing half of the stairs, landing feet on the shoulders of the nearest guard. I snapped his neck like a breadstick, jumping again, putting another two bullets into another man as I flew. I landed on the railing of the balcony, Xanth coming up to meet me.

Last one. The frightened man in the cream suit, long blonde hair in disarray, had a gun, but his poorly aimed shots missed as I twisted aside on the railing. As I spun back round, I heard him scream, and saw his arm, looking tiny in Xanths grasp, his hand lost in Xanth's fingers. There was a crunch, another scream, blood easing its way out from Xanth's fist. He let him drop, and the man fell backwards against the wall, cradling the ruined stump of his arm. The gun was no-where to be seen.

'And done.' I checked my watch. 'Wow. That was, what, thirty seconds?'

'Bad show.' Xanth replied. He knelt down beside the club owner. 'He's gone into shock, poor darling.'

'He's not going to be much good here. We'll take him back with us.'

'He's losing blood' I caught the concern in Xanth's voice.

'And who's fault is that?'

The man whimpered. I almost felt sorry for him. Then he opened his mouth, fixing us with wide eyes. He reminded me of a fish.

'You chose a bad night.' he whispered hoarsely. I frowned.

'Care to explain?'

'I've…' His eyes rolled backwards in his head. A strange little laugh escaped his lips. 'You should have been watching the clock.'

'He's losing it, Xanth. We have to get him back.'

'Sixty seconds left.' The man said. Xanth crouched down beside him.

'Who are they? What do they look like? Tell us and we'll let you go.'

'We will?' I raised an eyebrow. He nodded.

'Their names. Give me their names.'

'Fifty seconds.' The words came again. 'Forty five.'

'Screw it. Xanth, grab him.'

'Who are they?' Xanth shook the man's shoulder. It looked as though he was losing consciousness. 'Give us a name.'

'They'll kill me. They're going to kill me anyway. They're going to see what you've done.' His eyes flickered open. 'Twenty seconds.'

There was a gunshot. Splinters exploded from the floor below us. The man's eyes opened entirely.

There was a bullet hole in his chest.

'Xanth!'

We were still for a moment. The man looked up with his dying eyes, a trickle of blood easing its way from his mouth and running down his chin.

'Guess I counted wrong.' His eyes unfocused. Then. 'Glaston. His name is Glas-'

The second bullet hit him in the temple. He fell back and lay still. Xanth and I were already moving. I crossed over to the railing, gazing down at the new players in tonight's game.

'Kai. Xanthir.' The voice was American, but carried a kind of aristocratic chime to it that indicated exactly what kind of person it belonged to. A vampire's voice, floating up with menacing amusement.

'Welcome to my pub.'

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